The Poems of William Wordsworth, Collected Reading Texts from The Cornell Wordsworth Series, Volume III

The Poems of William Wordsworth Collected Reading Texts from

The Cornell Wordsworth Edited by Jared Curtis Volume III

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The Poems of William Wordsworth Collected Reading Texts from

The Cornell Wordsworth Series Volume III Edited by Jared Curtis

HEB ☼ Humanities-Ebooks, LLP

© Jared Curtis, 2009 The Author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published by Humanities-Ebooks, LLP, Tirril Hall, Tirril, Penrith CA10 2JE. Cover image, from Great Dodd, © Richard Gravil The reading texts of Wordsworth’s poems used in this volume are from the Cornell Wordsworth series, published by Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850. Copyright © Cornell University. Volumes are available at: http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu The Ebook (with the facility of word and phrase search) is available to private purchasers exclusively from http://www.humanities-ebooks.co.uk The paperback version is available from all booksellers but at a 33% discount only from http://www.troubador.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-84760-087-5 Ebook ISBN 978-1-84760-091-2 Paperback

Contents Preface Acknowledgments Note on the Text Shorter Poems (1807–1820) The Prelude (1824–1839) Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, (1820–1845)

The River Duddon. A Series of Sonnets, 1820 Ecclesiastical Sketches, 1822 Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems, Composed (two excepted) during a Tour in Scotland, and on the English Border, in the Autumn of 1831 Sonnets Composed or Suggested during a tour in Scotland, in the Summer of 1833 Memorials of a Tour in Italy. 1837 Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death. In Series Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty and Order

Last Poems (1821–1850) Notes Index to Poems in Volume III Index to Poems in Volumes I to III

7 9 9 11 144 349 368 427 469 488 524 555 561

568 780 798 828

For a complete list of contents in each section, please expand the bookmarks panel.

Contents of volumes I and II Volume I Early Poems and Fragments, 1785–1797 An Evening Walk (1793) Descriptive Sketches (1793)

11 82 97

˘ Adventures on Salisbury Plain (1795–1799) The Borderers (1797) The Ruined Cottage and The Pedlar (1798, 1803–1804) The Ruined Cottage (1798) The Pedlar (1803–1804) Lyrical Ballads, and Other Poems, 1797–1800 Lyrical Ballads and Other Poems (1798) Lyrical Ballads and Other Poems, in Two Volumes (1800) Other Poems, 1798–1800 Peter Bell, a Tale (1799) The Prelude (1798–1799) Home at Grasmere (1800–1806) Poems, in Two Volumes, and Other Poems, 1800–1807 Poems, in Two Volumes (1807) Other Poems, 1798–1800

123 151 270 286 312 377 476 487 530 558 587 718

Volume II The Prelude (1805–1806) 11 250 Benjamin the Waggoner &c (1806) The Tuft of Primroses, with Other Late Poems for The Recluse (1808–1828) The Tuft of Primroses 274 To the Clouds 291 St. Paul’s 292 Composed when a probability existed of our being obliged to quit Rydal Mount as a Residence 294 The Excursion (1808–1814) The Excursion (1814) 298 The Peasant’s Life 568 The Shepherd of Bield Crag 570 The White Doe of Rylstone; Or the Fate of the Nortons. A Poem (1808) 572 Translations of Chaucer and Virgil (1801–1831) Chaucer: The Prioress’s Tale 635 Chaucer: The Cuckoo and the Nightingale 643 Chaucer: Troilus and Cressida 654 Chaucer: The Manciple (from the Prologue) and his Tale 659 Virgil: Aeneid 667 Virgil: Georgics 751

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Preface The Cornell Wordsworth series, under the general editorship of Stephen Parrish, began appearing in 1975. Through controversy and acclaim, the editions have steadily appeared over three decades, coming to completion in 2007 with the publication of the twenty-first volume—an edition of The Excursion—and a supplementary volume of indexes and guides for the series. The purpose of this edition is to collect all of the earliest complete reading texts garnered from the twenty-one volumes in the series. The earliest records of Wordsworth’s poetic composition date from 1785, when he was fifteen years old, and the latest date from 1847, when he was seventy-seven. In the interim he composed hundreds of poems, thousands of verses, not all of which reached—or survived in—a “completed” state. All of those that did are included here. If William Butler Yeats was remarkable for reinventing his poetic self, Wordsworth might be said to have constantly “revisited” his. Three of his lyrics bear the revealing sequential titles, “Yarrow Unvisited” (1803), “Yarrow Visited” (1814), and “Yarrow Revisited” (1831). In the first, the poet-traveler prefers his imagined Yarrow—the Yarrow of Scots balladeers Nicol Burne, John Logan, and William Hamilton—to the physical one. In the second, the “genuine” Yarrow engenders an image that

Will dwell with me—to heighten joy, And cheer my mind in sorrow.

And the third pays tribute to his friend and fellow poet, Walter Scott, with whom he toured the Yarrow valley before the ailing Scott departed for Italy: in this time of “change and changing,” he prays that the valley maintain its power to restore “brightness” to “the soul’s deep valley.” Significant threads of Wordsworth’s development as a poet are embodied in these three elegiac tributes. They are all written in a ballad stanza that Wordsworth borrowed and adapted from the older Scots poets. A glance through the pages of this volume will illustrate the varied verse forms the poet adopted and transformed over his long career. Obvious favorites were his own meditative style of blank verse and the sonnet in its various guises. But he employed a variety of meters, stanzaic patterns, and rhyme schemes in producing poems ranging from ballads to autobiography, satirical squibs to verse romance, from epitaphs to royal tributes. The methods, too, of the three “Yarrows” are instructive. The primacy of the imagination is sug-

˘â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth gested in the poet’s reluctance to visit the famed valley; upon visiting the place, the poet’s response is to preserve it in memory as a “spot of time” to bind his days, “each to each” as a remedy for future sorrow; and on revisiting the valley he acknowledges that sorrow and attempts to recharge the healing power of memory. Another example of “revisiting” can be found in the restless energy that Wordsworth displayed over his entire writing life in composing sonnets, both singly, as apparently instant responses to present scene, public event, or personal history, and in series, building both narrative and argument through this highly adaptive form. And, occupying the center of this metaphor are the several attempts to write the story of his inner life as a poet, here represented in the three versions of The Prelude. Annotation is confined largely to reproducing the notes Wordsworth published with his poems. Editorial commentary has been kept to a minimum, given the rich resource in each of the Cornell Wordsworth volumes, leaving room instead for the poetry. For information about the source of the text, its compositional history, its textual and interpretive annotation, and its social and historical context, the reader is referred to the appropriate volumes in the series, cited in the editor’s notes at the end of each volume.

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Acknowledgments For the impetus to prepare such an edition and for his continuing and enthusiastic support for its completion I owe thanks to Stephen Parrish. I have gained from fruitful discussions with James Butler, Stephen Gill, and Mark Reed from the beginning stages, and for making my task easier by helping with proofreading and other tasks, I especially thank James and Mark. I owe thanks, too, to the editors who prepared each of the editions from which the reading texts making up this edition were drawn. All of them are acknowledged by name, and their work cited, in the editor’s notes. None of these generous scholars can be held responsible for any flaws in detail or judgment. I am pleased to acknowledge the Wordsworth Trust for graciously permitting the use of materials from their collections and Cornell University Press for both the permission and the assistance needed to prepare this gathering of reading texts from their landmark series of Wordsworth editions. And for wise counsel and technical assistance in the enterprize of producing an electronic text of these volumes, I am grateful to Richard Gravil of Humanities-Ebooks.

Note on the Text The source for each poem is the earliest and most complete reading text presented in the volume in the Cornell Wordsworth series that contains that poem. With the few exceptions noted below, no attempt has been made to include the many alternate readings and revisions that these volumes provide. Early evidence of Wordsworth revisiting his own work is found in the two versions of Pity (“Now too while o’er the heart we feel”) and in the “extracts” from The Vale of Esthwaite; both the original poems and their later development are included. In the case of The Prelude, each of the three versions that stood as complete is represented. In 1799 Wordsworth revised the ending to The Ruined Cottage, within a year of composing the first ending, and in 1803–1804 incorporated much of the earlier poem in an expanded portrait of the Pedlar in The Pedlar. Wordsworth then incorporated large parts of both poems into The Excursion in 1814. These three distinct poems are included. Wordsworth occasionally folded a free-standing sonnet into a subsequent sonnet series or sequence, in which case the

10â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth free-standing sonnet is repeated in its later context. The aim throughout has been to present clean reading texts of Wordsworth’s poems. In most cases the poet’s and his earliest printers’ orthography has not been altered, though some exceptions have been made for consistency. To distinguish a poem originally published without a title from poems that immediately precede or follow it, I have used the familiar anthologist’s convention of quoting the first line of the poem as its “title,” even though neither Wordsworth nor his publishers did so. A few editorial devices have proven necessary, especially where the source for the reading text is a manuscript. For further comment on the gaps and irregularities in the manuscript sources, see the original Cornell editions. [â•…â•… ]

A gap in the source, either left by the poet, or caused by a damaged manuscript.

[word]

Within the brackets are missing letters or words, supplied from a different authorial source, or by the editor; in a few instances, brackets enclose lines that Wordsworth apparently canceled, but without indicating a substitute.

** —

Asterisks and solid lines, employed by Wordsworth to indicate omissions or breaks in the text.

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A double solid line, used by the editor to indicate an interruption in the text.

Wordsworth’s long notes, prose dedications, and other prose writings connected to the poems, are gathered in the “Notes” section at the end of the volume, and their presence is indicated in the on-page notes. Jared Curtis Seattle, Washington

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820) “Mark the concentred Hazels that enclose” Mark the concentred Hazels that enclose Yon old grey Stone, protected from the ray Of noontide suns:—and even the beams that play And glance, while wantonly the rough wind blows, Are seldom free to touch the moss that grows Upon that roof—amid embowering gloom The very image framing of a Tomb, In which some ancient Chieftain finds repose Among the lonely mountains.—Live, ye Trees! And Thou, grey Stone, the pensive likeness keep Of a dark chamber where the Mighty sleep: For more than Fancy to the influence bends When solitary Nature condescends To mimic Time’s forlorn humanities.

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“The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said” The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said, “Bright is thy veil, O Moon, as thou art bright!” Forthwith, that little Cloud, in ether spread, And penetrated all with tender light, She cast away, and shewed her fulgent head Uncover’d;—dazzling the Beholder’s sight As if to vindicate her beauty’s right, Her beauty thoughtlessly disparaged. Meanwhile that Veil, removed or thrown aside, Went, floating from her, darkening as it went; And a huge Mass, to bury or to hide, Approached this glory of the firmament; Who meekly yields, and is obscur’d;—content With one calm triumph of a modest pride.

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12â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “Eve’s lingering clouds extend in solid bars” Eve’s lingering clouds extend in solid bars Through the grey west; and lo! these waters, steeled By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield A vivid repetition of the stars; Jove—Venus—and the ruddy crest of Mars, Amid his fellows, beauteously revealed At happy distance from earth’s groaning field, Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars. Is it a mirror?—or the nether sphere Opening its vast abyss, while fancy feeds On the rich show!—But list! a voice is near; Great Pan himself low-whispering through the reeds, “Be thankful thou; for, if unholy deeds Ravage the world, tranquillity is here!”

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Sonnet on Milton Amid the dark control of lawless sway, Ambitions, rivalry, fanatic hate And various ills that shook the unsettled State, The dauntless Bard pursued his studious way, Not more his lofty genius to display, Than raise and dignify our mortal date, And sing the blessings which the Just await, That Man might hence in humble hope obey. Thus on a rock in Norway’s bleak domain, Nature impels the stately Pine to grow; [ ] And restless Ocean dashes all below: Still he preserves his firm majestic reign While added strength his spreading branches shew.

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  “The subject from Symonds’s Life.” WW’s MS. note. DW left a gap in the manuscript  at l. 11.

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 13 Elegiac Stanzas, composed in the churchyard of grasmere, westmorland, a few days after the interment there, of a man and his wife, inhabitants of the vale, who were lost upon the neighbouring mountains, on the night of the nineteenth of march last

Who weeps for Strangers?—Many wept For George and Sarah Green; Wept for that Pair’s unhappy end, Whose Grave may here be seen. By night, upon these stormy Heights Did Wife and Husband roam: Six little-Ones the Pair had left And could not find their Home. For any Dwelling-place of men As vainly did they seek.— He perish’d, and a voice was heard, The Widow’s lonely shriek. Down the dark precipice he fell, And she was left alone, Not long to think of her Children dear, Not long to pray or groan! A few wild steps—she too was left, A Body without life! The chain of but a few wild steps To the Husband bound the Wife.

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Now lodge they in one Grave, this Grave, A House with two-fold Roof, Two Hillocks but one Grave, their own, A covert tempest-proof. And from all agony of mind It keeps them safe and far,

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14â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth From fear, and from all need of hope, From sun, or guiding Star. Our peace is of the immortal Soul, Our anguish is of clay; Such bounty is in Heaven, so pass The bitterest pangs away. Three days did teach the Mother’s Babe Forgetfully to rest In reconcilement how serene! Upon another’s breast. The trouble of the elder Brood I know not that it stay’d So long—they seiz’d their joy, and They Have sung, and danc’d, and play’d.

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Now do the sternly-featur’d Hills Look gently on this Grave, And quiet now is the depth of air As a sea without a wave. But deeper lies the heart of peace, In shelter more profound; The heart of quietness is here, Within this Church-yard ground. O Darkness of the Grave! how calm After that living night, That last and dreary living one Of sorrow and affright! O sacred Marriage-bed of Death That holds them side by side, In bond of love, in bond of God, Which may not be untied!

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 15 “A few bold Patriots, Reliques of the Fight” A few bold Patriots, Reliques of the Fight That crush’d the Gothic sovereignty of Spain, Beneath Pelayo’s banner did unite; In hope they from the Arabian crescent fled, And when their steps had measured [â•… ] Plain, Cross’d Deva’s [â•… ] flood and [â•… ] snow-clad Height, And wound through depth of many a sunless Vale On which the noontide dew lay wet and pale, And now had reach’d Auseva’s rugged breast, The Leader turn’d, and from a jutting rock, Calm as a Shepherd beck’ning to his flock, The little band addrest. “Stop, Christian Warriors, faithful and undaunted! This Hill shall be our Fortress and the gloom Of yon wide Cave our harbour or our tomb. Yet if the Saints and pitying Angels bless The efforts of the brave in their distress, Not vainly shall your Standard here be planted! With swords to guard our Virtue are we come To these Asturian Wilds, a proud retreat Where Friends surround us in their antient seat, An inextinguishable people’s home. Aloft while here we hover, night and day Shall multiply our host and strengthen our array. —What earthly power can check the gathering clouds When from afar, along the craggy chain Of these huge mountains they appear in crowds? What mortal enmity the work restrain? Which an impenetrable darkness shrouds While steadfastly embodied they remain, Feeding a silent force of thunder, wind, and rain, Which at the sovereign word Of their almighty Lord Breaks forth and spreads in ravage o’er the plain—

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16â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth No otherwise shall we descend and quell The astounded Infidel. “Meanwhile till Heav’n, O patient Warriors, call Our Valor to the onset, yon wide Cave Which opens like a ready grave For desperate Fugitives, to us shall be A Legislative Hall Chear’d by the gladsome voice of Liberty; And to that Sanctuary dark Will we entrust the holy Ark, The Covenant of the faith That saves the soul from death, And shall uphold our frail and mortal hands Till we, or men as brave, the favored bands Of our exalted Countrymen, regain For Lordship without end the fields of Universal Spain.” Thus spake Pelayo on his chosen Hill; And shall at this late [â•… ] the Heavens belie The heroic prophecy And put to shame the great Diviner’s skill? The Power which, issuing like a slender rill From those high places, waxed by slow degrees, Swoln with access of many sovereignties, And gained a River’s strength and rolled a mighty wave— The Stream which in Pelayo’s Cave Upon the illustrious Mountain took its birth— Has disappeared from earth: A foreign Tyrant speaks his impious will, And Spain hath own’d the Monarch which he gave. Most horrible attempt! unthought-of hour Of human shame and black indignity! Alas, not unprovoked those Tempests low’r, Not uninvited this malignity. Full long relinquishing a precious dower By Gothic Virtue won, secured by oath Of king and people pledged in mutual troth, The Spaniard hath approached on servile knee The native Ruler; all too willingly

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 17 Full many an age in that degenerate Land The rightful Master hath betrayed his trust. Earthward the Imperial flower was bent In mortal languishment; This knew the Spoiler whose victorious hand Hath snapp’d th’enfeebled Stalk and laid its head in dust.

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“Say, what is Honour?—Tis the finest sense” Say, what is Honour?—Tis the finest sense Of justice which the human mind can frame, Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim, And guard the way of life from all offence Suffered or done. When lawless violence A Kingdom doth assault, and in the scale Of perilous war her weightiest Armies fail, Honour is hopeful elevation—whence Glory—and Triumph. Yet with politic skill Endangered States may yield to terms unjust, Stoop their proud heads;—but not unto the dust,— A Foe’s most favourite purpose to fulfil! Happy occasions oft by self-mistrust Are forfeited; but infamy doth kill.

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Composed while the Author was Engaged in Writing a Tract, Occasioned by the Convention of Cintra, 1808 Not ’mid the World’s vain objects that enslave The free-born Soul,—that world whose vaunted skill In selfish interest perverts the will, Whose factions lead astray the wise and brave; Not there! but in dark wood and rocky cave, And hollow vale which foaming torrents fill With omnipresent murmur as they rave Down their steep beds that never shall be still: Here, mighty Nature!—in this school sublime I weigh the hopes and fears of suffering Spain: For her consult the auguries of time, And through the human heart explore my way, And look and listen,—gathering where I may Triumph, and thoughts no bondage can restrain.

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18â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Composed at the Same Time, and on the Same Occasion I dropped my pen;—and listened to the wind That sang of trees up-torn and vessels tost; —A midnight harmony, and wholly lost To the general sense of men by chains confined Of business, care, or pleasure,—or resigned To timely sleep.— Thought I, the impassioned strain, Which, without aid of numbers, I sustain, Like acceptation from the World will find. Yet some with apprehensive ear shall drink A dirge devoutly breathed o’er sorrows past, And to the attendant promise will give heed, The prophecy,—like that of this wild blast, Which, while it makes the heart with sadness shrink, Tells also of bright calms that shall succeed.

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“Hail, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye” Hail, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye We can approach, thy sorrow to behold, Yet is the heart not pitiless nor cold; Such spectacle demands not tear or sigh. These desolate Remains are trophies high Of more than martial courage in the breast Of peaceful civic virtue: they attest Thy matchless worth to all posterity. Blood flowed before thy sight without remorse; Disease consumed thy vitals; War upheaved The ground beneath thee with volcanic force; Dread trials! yet encountered and sustained Till not a wreck of help or hope remained, And Law was from necessity received.

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1810 Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen Reports of him, his dwelling or his grave! Does yet the unheard-of Vessel ride the wave? Or is she swallowed up—remote from ken Of pitying human nature? Once again

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 19 Methinks that we shall hail thee, Champion brave, Redeemed to baffle that imperial Slave; And through all Europe cheer desponding men With new-born hope. Unbounded is the might Of martyrdom, and fortitude, and right. Hark, how thy Country triumphs!—Smilingly The Eternal looks upon her sword that gleams, Like his own lightning, over mountains high, On rampart, and the banks of all her streams.

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“Call not the royal Swede unfortunate” Call not the royal Swede unfortunate Who never did to Fortune bend the knee; Who slighted fear,—rejected steadfastly Temptation; and whose kingly name and state Have “perished by his choice, and not his fate!” Hence lives He, to his inner self endeared; And hence, wherever virtue is revered, He sits a more exalted Potentate, Throned in the hearts of men. Should Heaven ordain That this great Servant of a righteous cause Must still have sad or vexing thoughts to endure, Yet may a sympathizing spirit pause, Admonished by these truths, and quench all pain In thankful joy and gratulation pure.

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“Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid” Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid His vows to Fortune; who, in cruel slight Of virtuous hope, of liberty, and right, Hath followed wheresoe’er a way was made By the blind Goddess;—ruthless, undismayed; And so hath gained at length a prosperous Height, Round which the Elements of worldly might Beneath his haughty feet, like clouds, are laid. O joyless power that stands by lawless force! Curses are his dire portion, scorn, and hate, Internal darkness and unquiet breath; And, if old judgments keep their sacred course,

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20â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Him from that Height shall Heaven precipitate By violent and ignominious death. “Is there a Power that can sustain and cheer” Is there a Power that can sustain and cheer The captive Chieftain—by a Tyrant’s doom Forced to descend alive into his tomb, A dungeon dark!—where he must waste the year, And lie cut off from all his heart holds dear; What time his injured Country is a stage Whereon deliberate Yalour and the Rage Of righteous Vengeance side by side appear,— Filling from morn to night the heroic scene With deeds of hope and everlasting praise: Say can he think of this with mind serene And silent fetters?— Yes, if visions bright Shine on his soul, reflected from the days When he himself was tried in open light.

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“Brave Schill! by death delivered, take thy flight” Brave Schill! by death delivered, take thy flight From Prussia’s timid region. Go, and rest With Heroes ’mid the Islands of the Blest, Or in the Fields of empyrean light. A Meteor wert thou in a darksome night; Yet shall thy name, conspicuous and sublime, Stand in the spacious firmament of time, Fixed as a star: such glory is thy right. Alas! it may not be: for earthly fame Is Fortune’s frail dependant; yet there lives A Judge, who, as man claims by merit, gives; To whose all-pondering mind a noble aim, Faithfully kept, is as a noble deed; In whose pure sight all virtue doth succeed. Feelings of the Tyrolese The Land we from our Fathers had in trust, And to our Children will transmit, or die: This is our maxim, this our piety;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 21 And God and Nature say that it is just. That which we would perform in arms—we must! We read the dictate in the Infant’s eye; In the Wife’s smile; and in the placid sky; And, at our feet, amid the silent dust Of them that were before us.—Sing aloud Old Songs, the precious music of the heart! Give, Herds and Flocks! your voices to the wind! While we go forth, a self-devoted crowd, With weapons in the fearless hand, to assert Our virtue, and to vindicate mankind.

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“Alas! what boots the long, laborious quest” Alas! what boots the long, laborious quest Of moral prudence, sought through good and ill, Or pains abstruse, to elevate the will, And lead us on to that transcend ant rest Where every passion shall the sway attest Of Reason seated on her sovereign hill;— What is it but a vain and curious skill, If sapient Germany must lie deprest, Beneath the brutal sword?—Her haughty Schools Shall blush; and may not we with sorrow say, A few strong instincts and a few plain rules, Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought More for mankind at this unhappy day Than all the pride of intellect and thought.

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“And is it among rude untutored Dales” And is it among rude untutored Dales, There, and there only, that the heart is true? And, rising to repel or to subdue, Is it by rocks and woods that man prevails? Ah, no!—though Nature’s dread protection fails There is a bulwark in the soul.— This knew Iberian Burghers when the sword they drew In Zaragoza, naked to the gales Of fiercely-breathing war. The truth was felt By Palafox, and many a brave Compeer,

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22â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Like him of noble birth and noble mind; By Ladies, meek-eyed Women without fear; And Wanderers of the street, to whom is dealt The bread which without industry they find. “O’er the wide earth, on mountain and on plain” O’er the wide earth, on mountain and on plain, Dwells in the affections and the soul of man A Godhead, like the universal Pan, But more exalted, with a brighter train. And shall his bounty be dispensed in vain, Showered equally on City and on Field, And neither hope nor steadfast promise yield In these usurping times of fear and pain? Such doom awaits us.—Nay, forbid it Heaven! We know the arduous strife, the eternal laws To which the triumph of all good is given, High sacrifice, and labour without pause, Even to the death:—else wherefore should the eye Of man converse with immortality?

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“Advance—come forth from thy Tyrolean ground” Advance—come forth from thy Tyrolean ground Dear Liberty!—stern Nymph of soul untamed, Sweet Nymph, Oh! rightly of the mountains named! Through the long chain of Alps from mound to mound And o’er the eternal snows, like Echo, bound,— Like Echo, when the Hunter-train at dawn Have rouzed her from her sleep: and forest-lawn, Cliffs, woods, and caves her viewless steps resound And babble of her pastime!—On, dread Power, With such invisible motion speed thy flight, Through hanging clouds, from craggy height to height, Through the green vales and through the Herdsman’s bower, That all the Alps may gladden in thy might, Here, there, and in all places at one hour. Hôffer Of mortal Parents is the Hero born

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 23 By whom the undaunted Tyrolese are led? Or is it Tell’s great Spirit, from the dead Returned to animate an age forlorn? He comes like Phœbus through the gates of morn When dreary darkness is discomfited: Yet mark his modest state!—upon his head, That simple crest—a heron’s plume—is worn. O Liberty! they stagger at the shock; The Murderers are aghast; they strive to flee And half their Host is buried:—rock on rock Descends:—beneath this godlike Warrior, see! Hills, Torrents, Woods, embodied to bemock The Tyrant, and confound his cruelty.

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On the Final Submission of the Tyrolese It was a moral end for which they fought; Else how, when mighty Thrones were put to shame, Could they, poor Shepherds, have preserved an aim, A resolution, or enlivening thought? Nor hath that moral good been vainly sought; For in their magnanimity and fame Powers have they left—an impulse—and a claim Which neither can be overturned nor bought. Sleep, Warriors, sleep! among your hills repose! We know that ye, beneath the stern controul Of awful prudence, keep the unvanquished soul. And when, impatient of her guilt and woes Europe breaks forth; then, Shepherds! shall ye rise For perfect triumph o’er your Enemies. [Epitaphs Translated from Chiabrera] “True is it that Ambrosio Salinero” True is it that Ambrosio Salinero With an untoward fate was long involved In odious litigation; and full long, Fate harder still! had he to endure assaults   Gabriello Chiabrera (1552–1638).

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24â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of racking malady. And true it is That not the less a frank courageous heart And buoyant spirit triumphed over pain; And he was strong to follow in the steps Of the fair Muses. Not a covert path Leads to the dear Parnassian forest’s shade, That might from him be hidden; not a track Mounts to pellucid Hippocrene, but he Had traced its windings.— This Savona knows, Yet no sepulchral honors to her Son She paid, for in our age the heart is ruled Only by gold. And now a simple stone Inscribed with this memorial here is raised By his bereft, his lonely, Chiabrera. Think not, O Passenger! who read’st the lines That an exceeding love hath dazzled me; No—he was One whose memory ought to spread Where’er Permessus bears an honoured name, And live as long as its pure stream shall flow.

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“Not without heavy grief of heart did He” Not without heavy grief of heart did He, On whom the duty fell, (for at that time The Father sojourned in a distant Land) Deposit in the hollow of this Tomb A Brother’s Child, most tenderly beloved! Francesco was the name the Youth had borne, Pozzobonnelli his illustrious House; And when beneath this stone the Corse was laid The eyes of all Savona streamed with tears. Alas! the twentieth April of his life Had scarcely flowered: and at this early time, By genuine virtue he inspired a hope That greatly cheered his Country: to his Kin He promised comfort; and the flattering thoughts His Friends had in their fondness entertained, He suffered not to languish or decay.   “In justice to the Author I subjoin the original. —————e degli amici Non lasciava languire i bei pensieri.” WW

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 25 Now is there not good reason to break forth Into a passionate lament?—O Soul! Short while a Pilgrim in our nether world, Do thou enjoy the calm empyreal air; And round this earthly tomb let roses rise, An everlasting spring! in memory Of that delightful fragrance which was once, From thy mild manners, quietly exhaled.

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“Pause, courteous Spirit!—Balbi supplicates” Pause, courteous Spirit!—Balbi supplicates That Thou, with no reluctant voice, for him Here laid in mortal darkness, wouldst prefer A prayer to the Redeemer of the world. This to the Dead by sacred right belongs; All else is nothing.—Did occasion suit To tell his worth, the marble of this tomb Would ill suffice: for Plato’s lore sublime And all the wisdom of the Stagyrite Enriched and beautified his studious mind: With Archimedes also he conversed As with a chosen Friend, nor did he leave Those laureat wreaths ungathered which the Nymphs Twine on the top of Pindus.—Finally, Himself above each lower thought uplifting, His ears he closed to listen to the Song Which Sion’s Kings did consecrate of old; And fixed his Pindus upon Lebanon. A blessed Man! who of protracted days Made not, as thousands do, a vulgar sleep; But truly did He live his life.—Urbino Take pride in him;—O Passenger farewell!

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“There never breathed a man who when his life” There never breathed a man who when his life Was closing might not of that life relate Toils long and hard.— The Warrior will report Of wounds, and bright swords flashing in the field, And blast of trumpets. He, who hath been doomed

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26â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To bow his forehead in the courts of kings, Will tell of fraud and never-ceasing hate, Envy, and heart-inquietude, derived From intricate cabals of treacherous friends. I, who on ship-board lived from earliest Youth, Could represent the countenance horrible Of the vexed waters, and the indignant rage Of Auster and Boötes. Forty years Over the well-steered Gallies did I rule:— From huge Pelorus to the Atlantic pillars, Rises no mountain to mine eyes unknown; And the broad gulfs I traversed oft—and—oft: Of every cloud which in the heavens might stir I knew the force; and hence the rough sea’s pride Availed not to my Yessel’s overthrow. What noble pomp and frequent have not I On regal decks beheld! yet in the end I learn that one poor moment can suffice To equalize the lofty and the low. We sail the sea of life—a Calm One finds, And One a Tempest—and, the voyage o’er, Death is the quiet haven of us all. If more of my condition ye would know, Savona was my birth-place, and I sprang Of noble Parents: sixty years and three Lived I—then yielded to a slow disease.

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“Destined to war from very infancy” Destined to war from very infancy Was I, Roberto Dati, and I took In Malta the white symbol of the Cross. Nor in life’s vigorous season did I shun Hazard or toil; among the Sands was seen Of Lybia, and not seldom on the Banks Of wide Hungarian Danube, ’twas my lot To hear the sanguinary trumpet sounded. So lived I, and repined not at such fate; This only grieves me, for it seems a wrong, That stripped of arms I to my end am brought

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 27 On the soft down of my paternal home. Yet haply Arno shall be spared all cause To blush for me. Thou, loiter not nor halt In thy appointed way, and bear in mind How fleeting and how frail is human life.

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“Weep not, beloved Friends! nor let the air” Weep not, beloved Friends! nor let the air For me with sighs be troubled. Not from life Have I been taken; this is genuine life And this alone—the life which now I live In peace eternal; where desire and joy Together move in fellowship without end.— Francesco Ceni after death enjoined That thus his tomb should speak for him. And surely Small cause there is for that fond wish of ours Long to continue in this world; a world That keeps not faith, nor yet can point a hope To good, whereof itself is destitute.

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“Perhaps some needful service of the State” Perhaps some needful service of the State Drew Titus from the depth of studious bowers, And doomed him to contend in faithless courts, Where gold determines between right and wrong. Yet did at length his loyalty of heart And his pure native genius lead him back To wait upon the bright and gracious Muses Whom he had early loved. And not in vain Such course he held! Bologna’s learned schools Were gladdened by the Sage’s voice, and hung With fondness on those sweet Nestorian strains. There pleasure crowned his days; and all his thoughts A roseate fragrance breathed.—O human life, That never art secure from dolorous change! Behold a high injunction suddenly     “I vi vivea giocondo e i suoi pensieri   Erano tutti rose. The Translator had not skill to come nearer to his original.” WW

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28â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To Arno’s side conducts him, and he charmed A Tuscan audience: but full soon was called To the perpetual silence of the grave. Mourn, Italy, the loss of him who stood A Champion steadfast and invincible, To quell the rage of literary War!

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“O Thou who movest onward with a mind” O Thou who movest onward with a mind Intent upon thy way, pause though in haste! ’Twill be no fruitless moment. I was born Within Savona’s walls of gentle blood. On Tiber’s banks my youth was dedicate To sacred studies; and the Roman Shepherd Gave to my charge Urbino’s numerous Flock. Much did I watch, much laboured; nor had power To escape from many and strange indignities; Was smitten by the great ones of the World But did not fall, for virtue braves all shocks, Upon herself resting immoveably. Me did a kindlier fortune then invite To serve the glorious Henry, King of France, And in his hands I saw a high reward Stretched out for my acceptance—but Death came.— Now, Reader, learn from this my fate—how false, How treacherous to her promise is the World, And trust in God—to whose eternal doom Must bend the sceptred Potentates of Earth.

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“O Lelius, beauteous flower of gentleness” O Lelius, beauteous flower of gentleness, The fair Aglaia’s friend above all friends, O darling of the fascinating Loves, By what dire envy moved did De[a]th uproot Thy days e’er yet full blown and what ill chance Hath robbed Savona of her noblest grace? She weeps for thee and shall for ever weep, And if the fountain of her tears should fail She would implore Sabete to supply

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 29 Her need—Sabete, sympathizing stream Who on his margin saw thee close thine eyes On the chaste bosom of thy Lady dear. Oh what do riches, what does youth avail? Dust are our hopes; I weeping did inscribe In bitterness thy monument and pray Of every gentle Spirit bitterly To read the record with as copious tears.

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“Torquato Tasso rests within this Tomb” Torquato Tasso rests within this Tomb; This Figure weeping from her inmost heart Is Poesy; from such impassioned grief Let everyone conclude what this Man was. “O flower of all that springs from gentle blood” O flower of all that springs from gentle blood, And all that generous nurture breeds, to make Youth amiable; O friend so true of soul To fair Aglaia; by what envy moved, Lelius! has death cut short thy brilliant day In its sweet opening? and what dire mishap Has from Savona torn her best delight? For thee she mourns, nor e’er will cease to mourn; And, should the out-pourings of her eyes suffice not For her heart’s grief, she will entreat Sebeto Not to withhold his bounteous aid, Sebeto Who saw thee, on his margin, yield to death, In the chaste arms of thy belovéd Love! What profit riches? what does youth avail? Dust are our hopes;—I, weeping bitterly, Penned these sad lines, nor can forbear to pray That every gentle Spirit hither led May read them not without some bitter tears. ——————————

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30â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The Oak of Guernica The ancient Oak of Guernica, says Laborde in his account of Biscay, is a most venerable natural Monument. Ferdinand and Isabella, in the year 1476, after hearing mass in the Church of Santa Maria de la Antigua, repaired to this tree, under which they swore to the Biscayans to maintain their fueros (privileges). What other interest belongs to it in the minds of this People will appear from the following

Supposed Address to the Same 1810 Oak of Guernica! Tree of holier power Than that which in Dodona did enshrine (So faith too fondly deemed) a voice divine Heard from the depths of its aerial bower, How canst thou flourish at this blighting hour? What hope, what joy can sunshine bring to thee, Or the soft breezes from the Atlantic sea, The dews of morn, or April’s tender shower? ——Stroke merciful and welcome would that be Which should extend thy branches on the ground, If never more within their shady round Those lofty-minded Lawgivers shall meet, Peasant and Lord, in their appointed seat, Guardians of Biscay’s ancient liberty.

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“In due observance of an ancient rite” In due observance of an ancient rite, The rude Biscayans, when their Children lie Dead in the sinless time of infancy, Attire the peaceful Corse in vestments white; And, in like sign of cloudless triumph bright, They bind the unoffending Creature’s brows With happy garlands of the pure white rose: This done, a festal Company unite In choral song; and, while the uplifted Cross Of Jesus goes before, the Child is borne Uncovered to his grave.—Her piteous loss The lonesome Mother cannot chuse but mourn;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 31 Yet soon by Christian faith is grief subdued, And joy attends upon her fortitude. Feelings of a Noble Biscayan at one of these funerals

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Yet, yet, Biscayans, we must meet our Foes With firmer soul,—yet labour to regain Our ancient freedom; else ’twere worse than vain To gather round the Bier these festal shows! A garland fashioned of the pure white rose Becomes not one whose Father is a Slave: Oh! bear the Infant covered to his Grave! These venerable mountains now enclose A People sunk in apathy and fear. If this endure, farewell, for us, all good! The awful light of heavenly Innocence Will fail to illuminate the Infant’s bier; And guilt and shame, from which is no defence, Descend on all that issues from our blood.

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1810 O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied On fleets and armies, and external wealth: But from within proceeds a Nation’s health; Which shall not fail, though poor men cleave with pride To the paternal floor; or turn aside, In the thronged City, from the walks of gain, As being all unworthy to detain A Soul by contemplation sanctified. There are who cannot languish in this strife, Spaniards of every rank, by whom the good Of such high course was felt and understood; Who to their Country’s cause have bound a life, Ere while by solemn consecration given To labour, and to prayer, to nature, and to heaven.

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  “See Laborde’s Character of the Spanish People; from him the sentiment of these two last lines is taken.” WW; he cites from Alexander De Laborde, A View of Spain (5 vols., London, 1809).

32â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind” Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind In men of low degree, all smooth pretence! I better like a blunt indifference And self-respecting slowness, disinclined To win me at first sight:—and be there joined Patience and temperance with this high reserve,— Honour that knows the path and will not swerve; Affections, which, if put to proof, are kind; And piety tow’rds God.—Such Men of old Were England’s native growth; and, throughout Spain, Forests of such do at this day remain; Then for that Country let our hopes be bold; For matched with these shall Policy prove vain, Her arts, her strength, her iron, and her gold.

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Indignation of a High-minded Spaniard. 1810 We can endure that He should waste our lands, Despoil our temples,—and by sword and flame Return us to the dust from which we came; Such food a Tyrant’s appetite demands: And we can brook the thought that by his hands Spain may be overpowered, and he possess, For his delight, a solemn wilderness, Where all the Brave lie dead. But when of bands, Which he will break for us, he dares to speak,— Of benefits, and of a future day When our enlightened minds shall bless his sway, Then, the strained heart of fortitude proves weak: Our groans, our blushes, our pale cheeks declare That he has power to inflict what we lack strength to bear.

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The French, and the Spanish Guerillas Hunger, and sultry heat, and nipping blast From bleak hill-top, and length of march by night Through heavy swamp, or over snow-clad height, These hardships ill sustained, these dangers past, The roving Spanish Bands are reached at last,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 33 Charged, and dispersed like foam:—but as a flight Of scattered quails by signs do reunite So these,—and, heard of once again, are chased With combinations of long practised art And newly-kindled hope;—but they are fled, Gone are they, viewless as the buried dead; Where now?— Their sword is at the Foeman’s heart! And thus from year to year his walk they thwart, And hang like dreams around his guilty bed.

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Spanish Guerillas. 1811 They seek, are sought; to daily battle led, Shrink not, though far out-numbered by their Foes: For they have learnt to open and to close The ridges of grim War; and at their head Are Captains such as erst their Country bred Or fostered, self-supported Chiefs,—like those Whom hardy Rome was fearful to oppose, Whose desperate shock the Carthaginian fled. In one who lived unknown a Shepherd’s life Redoubted Viriatus breathes again; And Mina, nourished in the studious shade, With that great Leader vies, who, sick of strife And bloodshed, longed in quiet to be laid In some green Island of the western main.

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“The martial courage of a day is vain—” The martial courage of a day is vain— An empty noise of death the battle’s roar— If vital hope be wanting to restore, Or fortitude be wanting to sustain, Armies or Kingdoms. We have heard a strain Of triumph, how the labouring Danube bore A weight of hostile corses: drenched with gore Were the wide fields, the hamlets heaped with slain. Yet see, the mighty tumult overpast, Austria a Daughter of her Throne hath sold! And her Tyrolean Champion we behold Murdered like one ashore by shipwreck cast,

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34â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Murdered without relief. Oh! blind as bold, To think that such assurance can stand fast! Conclusion. 1811 Here pause: the Poet claims at least this praise That virtuous Liberty hath been the scope Of his pure song, which did not shrink from hope In the worst moment of these evil days; From hope, the paramount duty that Heaven lays, For its own honour, on man’s suffering heart. Never may from our souls one truth depart, That an accursed thing it is to gaze On prosperous Tyrants with a dazzled eye; Nor, touched with due abhorrence of their guilt For whose dire ends tears flow, and blood is spilt, And justice labours in extremity, Forget thy weakness, upon which is built, O wretched Man, the throne of Tyranny!

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1811 The power of Armies is a visible thing, Formal, and circumscribed in time and place; But who the limits of that power can trace Which a brave People into light can bring, Or hide, at will,—for Freedom combating, By just revenge enflamed? No foot can chase, No eye can follow to a fatal place That power, that spirit, whether on the wing Like the strong wind, or sleeping like the wind Within its awful caves.—From year to year Springs this indigenous produce far and near; No craft this subtle element can bind, Rising like water from the soil, to find In every nook a lip that it may cheer. On a Celebrated Event in Ancient History A Roman Master stands on Grecian ground, And to the Concourse of the Isthmian Games He, by his Herald’s voice, aloud proclaims

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 35 The Liberty of Greece:—the words rebound Until all voices in one voice are drowned; Glad acclamation by which air was rent! And birds, high-flying in the element, Dropped to the earth, astonished at the sound! —A melancholy Echo of that noise Doth sometimes hang on musing Fancy’s ear: Ah! that a Conqueror’s words should be so dear; Ah! that a boon could shed such rapturous joys! A gift of that which is not to be given By all the blended powers of Earth and Heaven.

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Upon the Same Event When, far and wide, swift as the beams of morn The tidings passed of servitude repealed, And of that joy which shook the Isthmian Field, The rough Ætolians smiled with bitter scorn. “’Tis known,” cried they, “that He, who would adorn His envied temples with the Isthmian Crown, Must either win, through effort of his own, The prize, or be content to see it worn By more deserving brows.— Yet so ye prop, Sons of the Brave who fought at Marathon, Your feeble Spirits. Greece her head hath bowed, As if the wreath of Liberty thereon Would fix itself as smoothly as a cloud, Which, at Jove’s will, descends on Pelion’s top!”

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Upon the Sight of a Beautiful Picture Praised be the Art whose subtle power could stay Yon Cloud, and fix it in that glorious shape; Nor would permit the thin smoke to escape, Nor those bright sunbeams to forsake the day; Which stopped that Band of Travellers on their way Ere they were lost within the shady wood; And shewed the Bark upon the glassy flood For ever anchored in her sheltering Bay. Soul-soothing Art! which Morning, Noon-tide, Even Do serve with all their changeful pageantry!

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36â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Thou, with ambition modest yet sublime, Here, for the sight of mortal man, hast given To one brief moment caught from fleeting time The appropriate calm of blest eternity. Departure from the vale of grasmere. august

The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian Plains Might sometimes covet dissoluble chains; Even for the Tenants of the Zone that lies Beyond the stars, celestial Paradise, Methinks ’twould heighten joy, to overleap At will the crystal battlements, and peep Into some other region, though less fair, To see how things are made and managed there: Change for the worse might please, incursion bold Into the tracts of darkness and of cold; O’er Limbo lake with aëry flight to steer, And on the verge of Chaos hang in fear. Such animation often do I find, Power in my breast, wings growing in my mind, Then, when some rock or hill is overpast, Perchance without one look behind me cast, Some barrier with which Nature, from the birth Of things, has fenced this fairest spot on earth. O pleasant transit, Grasmere! to resign Such happy fields, abodes so calm as thine; Not like an outcast with himself at strife; The slave of business, time, or care for life, But moved by choice; or, if constrained in part, Yet still with Nature’s freedom at the heart; To cull contentment upon wildest shores, And luxuries extract from bleakest moors; With prompt embrace all beauty to enfold, And having rights in all that we behold. —Then why these lingering steps? A bright adieu, For a brief absence, proves that love is true; Ne’er can the way be irksome or forlorn, That winds into itself, for sweet return.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 37 [Epistle to Sir George Howland Beaumont, Bart. From the South-west Coast of Cumberland.—1811] Far from [â•…â•… ] Grasmere’s lake serene, Her Vale profound and mountains ever green, Fixed within hearing of loud Ocean’s roar Where daily, on a bleak and lonesome shore, Even at this summer season, huge Black Comb Frowns, deep’ning visibly his native gloom. Unless perchance, rejecting in despite What on the Plain we have of warmth and light, In his own Tempests hide himself from Sight. Here am I, Friend, where neither sheltered road Nor hedgerow screen, invite my steps abroad, Where one poor Plane-tree, having as it can Attained a stature twice the height of Man, Hopeless of further growth, and brown and sere, Thro’ half the summer stands with top cut sheer Like an unshifting weathercock that proves How cold the Quarter that the wind best loves, Or Centinel, that placed in front before Darkens the window, not defends the door Of this unfinished House; a Fortress bare, Where strength has been the Builder’s only care, Whose rugged walls may still for years demand The finer polish of the Plaisterer’s hand; This Dwelling’s Inmate more than three weeks’ space And oft a Prisoner in the cheerless place I, of whose touch the fiddle would complain, Whose breath would labour at the flute in vain, In music all unversed—and without skill A bridge to copy, or to paint a mill; Tired of my books, a scanty company, And tired of listening to the boisterous Sea, Pace between door and window murmuring rhyme, An old resource to cheat the froward time! And it would well content me to disclaim

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  The reading text is drawn from the earliest complete version, which is untitled. WW’s notes are those he published with the poem in Poems, 1815. The first line in 1815 is “Far from our home by Grasmere’s quiet Lake.”

38â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In these dull hours a more ambitious aim. But if there be a Muse, who, free to take Her Seat upon Olymphus, doth forsake Those Heights (like Phœbus when his golden locks He veiled, attendant on Thessalian Flocks) And in disguise, a Milkmaid with her pail Trips on the pathways of some winding dale; Or like a Mermaid warbles on the shores To Fishers, mending nets beside their doors; Or like a tired Way-farer faint in mind, Gives plaintive Ballads to the heedless wind— If such a visitant of Earth there be And she would deign this day to smile on me And aid my Verse content with narrow bounds, Life’s beaten road and Nature’s daily rounds, Thoughts, chances, sights or doings, which we tell Without reserve to those whom we love well, Then haply Beaumont, for my pen is near, The unlaboured lines to your indulgent ear May be transmitted, else will perish here. â•… What shall I treat of? News from Mona’s Isle? Such have I, but unvaried in its style; No tales of Runnagates fresh landed, whence And wherefore fugitive, or on what pretence— Of feasts or scandal eddying like the wind Most restlessly alive, when most confined. Ask not of me whose tongue can best appease The mighty tumults of the House of Keys, The last Year’s Cup whose Ram or Heifer gained, What slopes are planted, and what mosses drained? An eye of Fancy only can I cast On that proud pageant, now at hand or past, When full five hundred boats in trim array With nets and Sails outspread, and streamers gay And chaunted hymns and stiller voice of prayer For the old Manx harvest to the Deep repair, Soon as the Herring-shoals at distance shine Like beds of moonlight shifting on the brine. â•… Mona from my Abode is daily seen

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 39 But with a wilderness of waves between, And by conjecture only can I speak Of aught transacted there, in bay or creek; No tidings reach me thence from town or field; Only faint news the mountain sun-beams yield, And some I gather from the misty air, And some the hovering clouds, my telegraph, declare. But these poetic mysteries I withhold, For Fancy hath her fits both hot and cold And should the colder fit with you be on When you must read, my credit would be gone. â•… Let more substantial themes our care engage And humbler business occupy the Stage —First, for our journey hither. Ere the dawn Had from the east her silver star withdrawn The Wain stood ready at our Cottage door Thoughtfully freighted with a various store And long before the uprising of the Sun, O’er dew-damp’d dust our travel was begun, A needful journey, under summer skies Thro’ peopled Vales, yet something in the guise Of those old Patriarchs, when from Well to Well They roamed, where now the tented Arabs dwell. â•… Say then, to whom this charge did we confide, Who promptly undertook the Wain to guide Up many a sharply-twining road, and down, And over many a wide hill’s craggy crown, Thro’ the quick turns of many a hollow nook And the rough bed of many an unbridged brook? A blooming Lass, who in her better hand Bore a light switch, her sceptre of command When yet a slender Girl, she often led, Skilful and bold, the Horse and burdened Sled From the peat-yielding Moss on Gowdar’s head. What could we dread with such a Charioteer! For goods and chattels, or those Infants dear Escaped not long from malady severe, A Pair who smilingly sate side by side   “A local word for Sledge.” WW

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40â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Our hope confirming, that the salt-sea tide Whose free embraces we were bound to seek Would their lost strength restore, and freshen the pale cheek: Such hope did either Parent entertain Pacing behind, along the silent Lane. â•… Advancing Summer, Nature’s tasks fulfilled, The Choristers in Copse and grove had stilled, But we, we lacked not music of our own, For lightsome Fanny had thus early thrown Mid the gay prattle of those busy tongues Some notes prelusive from that round of Songs With which, more zealous than the liveliest bird That in wide Arden’s brakes was ever heard, Her work and her work’s partners she can cheer The whole day long, and all days of the year. Thus gladdened, soon we saw, and could not pass Without a pause, Diana’s looking glass! To Loughrigg’s pool, round, clear and bright as heaven Such name Italian fancy would have given— Ere on its banks those few grey Cabins rose That yet molest not its concealed repose More than the ruffling wind that idly blows. â•… Ah Beaumont, when an opening in the road Stopped me at once by charm of what it showed And I beheld (how vividly impressed!) The encircling landscape on its peaceful breast— Woods intermingling with a rocky bield, And the smooth green of many a pendent field,

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  “Loughrigg Tarn, alluded to in the foregoing Epistle, resembles, though much smaller in compass, the Lake Nemi, or Speculum Diana, as it is often called, not only in its clear waters and circular form, and the beauty immediately surrounding it, but also as being overlooked by the eminence of Langdale Pikes as Lake Nemi is by that of Monte Calvo. Since this Epistle was written Loughrigg Tarn has lost much of its beauty by the felling of many natural clumps of wood, relics of the old forest, particularly upon the farm called ’The Oaks,” from the abundance of that tree which grew there. It is to be regretted, upon public grounds, that Sir George Beaumont did not carry into effect his intention of constructing here a Summer Retreat in the style I have described; as his Taste would have set an example how buildings, with all the accommodations modern society requires, might be introduced even into the most secluded parts of this country without injuring their native character. The design was not abandoned from failure of inclination on his part, but in consequence of local untowardnesses which need not be particularised.” WW   “A word common in the country, signifying shelter, as in Scotland.” WW

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 41 One chimney smoking and its azure wreath— All, all reflected in the Pool beneath, With here and there a faint imperfect gleam Of water lilies, veiled in misty steam. What wonder, at this hour of stillness deep, A shadowy link ’twixt wakefulness and sleep When Nature’s self amid these watery gleams Is rendering visible her own soft dreams, If mixed with what appeared of rock, lawn, wood Truly repeated in the tranquil flood, A glimpse I caught of that Abode by Thee Designed to rise in humble privacy, A lowly Dwelling, here to be outspread Like a small hamlet with its bashful head Half hid in native trees. Alas, ’tis not Nor ever was; I sighed and left the spot Repining at its own untoward lot. I thought in silence with regret most keen Of intermingled joys that might have been, Of neighbourhood, and intermingling Arts And golden summer days uniting peaceful hearts. But Time, irrecoverable Time is flown And let us utter thanks for blessings sown And reaped—what hath been, and what is our own.

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To the Poet, Dyer Bard of the Fleece, whose skilful Genius made That Work a living landscape fair and bright; Nor hallowed less with musical delight Than those soft scenes through which thy Childhood stray’d, Those southern Tracts of Cambria, “deep embayed, By green hills fenced, by Ocean’s murmur lulled;” Though hasty Fame hath many a chaplet culled For worthless brows, while in the pensive shade Of cold neglect she leaves thy head ungraced, Yet pure and powerful minds, hearts meek and still, A grateful few, shall love thy modest Lay Long as the Shepherd’s bleating flock shall stray O’er naked Snowdon’s wide aerial waste;

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42â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Long as the thrush shall pipe on Grongar Hill. Written with a Slate-pencil, on a Stone, on the Side of the Mountain of Black Comb↜ Stay, bold Adventurer; rest awhile thy limbs On this commodious Seat! for much remains Of hard ascent before thou reach the top Of this huge Eminence,—from blackness named, And, to far-travelled storms of sea and land, A favourite spot of tournament and war! But thee may no such boisterous visitants Molest; may gentle breezes fan thy brow; And neither cloud conceal, nor misty air Bedim, the grand terraqueous spectacle, From centre to circumference, unveiled! Know, if thou grudge not to prolong thy rest, That, on the summit whither thou art bound, A geographic Labourer pitched his tent, With books supplied and instruments of art, To measure height and distance; lonely task, Week after week pursued!— To him was given Full many a glimpse (but sparingly bestowed On timid man) of Nature’s processes Upon the exalted hills. He made report That once, while there he plied his studious work Within that canvass Dwelling, suddenly The many-coloured map before his eyes Became invisible: for all around Had darkness fallen—unthreatened, unproclaimed— As if the golden day itself had been Extinguished in a moment; total gloom, In which he sate alone with unclosed eyes Upon the blinded mountain’s silent top!

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View from the Top of Black Comb This Height a ministering Angel might select:   “Black Comb stands at the southern extremity of Cumberland; its base covers a much greater extent of ground than any other Mountain in these parts; and, from its situation,. the summit commands a more extensive view than any other point in Britain.” WW

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 43 For from the summit of Black Comb (dread name Derived from clouds and storms!) the amplest range Of unobstructed prospect may be seen That British ground commands:—low dusky tracts, Where Trent is nursed, far southward! Cambrian Hills To the south-west, a multitudinous show; And, in a line of eye-sight linked with these, The hoary Peaks of Scotland that give birth To Tiviot’s Stream, to Annan, Tweed, and Clyde;— Crowding the quarter whence the sun comes forth Gigantic Mountains rough with crags; beneath, Right at the imperial Station’s western base, Main Ocean, breaking audibly, and stretched Far into silent regions blue and pale;— And visibly engirding Mona’s Isle That, as we left the Plain, before our sight Stood like a lofty Mount, uplifting slowly, (Above the convex of the watery globe) Into clear view the cultured fields that streak Its habitable shores; but now appears A dwindled object, and submits to lie At the Spectator’s feet.— Yon azure Ridge, Is it a perishable cloud? Or there Do we behold the frame of Erin’s Coast? Land sometimes by the roving shepherd swain, Like the bright confines of another world Not doubtfully perceived.—Look homeward now! In depth, in height, in circuit, how serene The spectacle, how pure!—Of Nature’s works, In earth, and air, and earth-embracing sea, A Revelation infinite it seems; Display august of man’s inheritance, Of Britain’s calm felicity and power. In the Grounds of Coleorton, the Seat of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. Leicestershire The embowering Rose, the Acacia, and the Pine Will not unwillingly their place resign; If but the Cedar thrive that near them stands,

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44â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Planted by Beaumont’s and by Wordsworth’s hands. One wooed the silent Art with studious pains,— These Groves have heard the Other’s pensive strains; Devoted thus, their spirits did unite By interchange of knowledge and delight. May Nature’s kindliest powers sustain the Tree, And Love protect it from all injury! And when its potent branches, wide out-thrown, Darken the brow of this memorial Stone, And to a favourite resting-place invite, For coolness grateful and a sober light; Here may some Painter sit in future days, Some future Poet meditate his lays; Not mindless of that distant age renowned When Inspiration hovered o’er this ground, The haunt of Him who sang how spear and shield In civil conflict met on Bosworth Field; And of that famous Youth, full soon removed From earth, perhaps by Shakespear’s self approved, Fletcher’s Associate, Jonson’s Friend beloved.

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Written at the Request of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. and in his Name, for an Urn, placed by him at the Termination of a newly-planted Avenue, in the same Grounds Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn, Shoot forth with lively power at Spring’s return; And be not slow a stately growth to rear Of Pillars, branching off from year to year Till they at length have framed a darksome Aisle;— Like a recess within that awful Pile Where Reynolds, mid our Country’s noblest Dead, In the last sanctity of Fame is laid. —There, though by right the excelling Painter sleep Where Death and Glory a joint sabbath keep, Yet not the less his Spirit would hold dear Self-hidden praise and Friendship’s private tear: Hence on my patrimonial Grounds have I Raised this frail tribute to his memory, From youth a zealous follower of the Art

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 45 That he professed, attached to him in heart; Admiring, loving, and with grief and pride Feeling what England lost when Reynolds died. In a Garden of the same Oft is the Medal faithful to its trust When Temples, Columns, Towers are laid in dust; And ’tis a common ordinance of fate That things obscure and small outlive the great: Hence, when yon Mansion and the flowery trim Of this fair Garden, and its alleys dim, And all its stately trees, are passed away, This little Niche, unconscious of decay, Perchance may still survive.—And be it known That it was scooped within the living stone,— Not by the sluggish and ungrateful pains Of labourer plodding for his daily gains; But by an industry that wrought in love, With help from female hands, that proudly strove To shape the work, what time these walks and bowers Were framed to cheer dark winter’s lonely hours.

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Inscription for a Seat in the Groves of Coleorton Beneath yon eastern Ridge, the craggy Bound, Rugged and high, of Charnwood’s forest ground, Stand yet, but, Stranger! hidden from thy view, The ivied Ruins of forlorn Grace Dieu; Erst a religious House, that day and night With hymns resounded, and the chaunted rite: And when those rites had ceased, the Spot gave birth To honourable Men of various worth: There, on the margin of a Streamlet wild, Did Francis Beaumont sport, an eager Child; There, under shadow of the neighbouring rocks, Sang youthful tales of shepherds and their flocks; Unconscious prelude to heroic themes, Heart-breaking tears, and melancholy dreams Of slighted love, and scorn, and jealous rage, With which his genius shook the buskined Stage.

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46â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Communities are lost, and Empires die,— And things of holy use unhallowed lie; They perish;—but the Intellect can raise, From airy words alone, a Pile that ne’er decays.

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Song for the Spinning Wheel founded upon a belief prevalent among the pastoral vales of westmorland

Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Night has brought the welcome hour, When the weary fingers feel Help, as if from fairy power; Dewy night o’ershades the ground; Turn the swift wheel round and round! Now, beneath the starry sky, Rest the widely-scatter’d sheep;— Ply, the pleasant labour, ply!— For the spindle, while they sleep, With a motion smooth and fine Gathers up a trustier line. Short-liv’d likings may be bred By a glance from fickle eyes; But true love is like the thread Which the kindly wool supplies, When the flocks are all at rest, Sleeping on the mountain’s breast.

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“Grief, thou hast lost an ever ready Friend” Grief, thou hast lost an ever ready Friend Now that the cottage spinning-wheel is mute; And Care—a Comforter that best could suit Her froward mood, and softliest reprehend; And Love—a Charmer’s voice, that used to lend, More efficaciously than aught that flows From harp or lute, kind influence to compose The throbbing pulse,—else troubled without end: Ev’n Joy could tell, Joy craving truce and rest

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 47 From her own overflow, what power sedate On those revolving motions did await Assiduously, to sooth her aching breast; And—to a point of just relief—abate The mantling triumphs of a day too blest.

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“The fairest, brightest hues of ether fade” The fairest, brightest hues of ether fade; The sweetest notes must terminate and die; O Friend! thy flute has breathed a harmony Softly resounded through this rocky glade; Such strains of rapture as the Genius played In his still haunt on Bagdad’s summit high; He who stood visible to Mirzah’s eye, Never before to human sight betrayed. Lo, in the vale the mists of evening spread! The visionary Arches are not there, Nor the green Islands, nor the shining Seas; Yet sacred is to me this Mountain’s head, From which I have been lifted on the breeze Of harmony, above all earthly care.

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“Even as a dragon’s eye that feels the stress” Even as a dragon’s eye that feels the stress Of a bedimming sleep, or as a lamp Sullenly glaring through sepulchral damp, So burns yon Taper mid its black recess Of mountains, silent, dreary, motionless: The Lake below reflects it not; the sky Muffled in clouds affords no company To mitigate and cheer its loneliness. Yet round the body of that joyless Thing, Which sends so far its melancholy light, Perhaps are seated in domestic ring A gay society with faces bright, Conversing, reading, laughing;—or they sing, While hearts and voices in the song unite.

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  “See the vision of Mirzah in the Spectator.” WW; he cites Joseph Addison in The Spectator, no. 159, Saturday, September 1, 1711.

48â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “Hail Twilight,—sovereign of one peaceful hour!” Hail Twilight,—sovereign of one peaceful hour! Not dull art Thou as undiscerning Night; But studious only to remove from sight Day’s mutable distinctions.—Ancient Power! Thus did the waters gleam, the mountains lower To the rude Briton, when, in wolf-skin vest Here roving wild, he laid him down to rest On the bare rock, or through a leafy bower Looked ere his eyes were closed. By him was seen The self-same Vision which we now behold, At thy meek bidding, shadowy Power, brought forth;— These mighty barriers, and the gulph between; The floods,—the stars,—a spectacle as old As the beginning of the heavens and earth!

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Composed on the Eve of the Marriage of a Friend, in the Vale of Grasmere What need of clamorous bells, or ribbands gay, These humble Nuptials to proclaim or grace? Angels of Love, look down upon the place, Shed on the chosen Vale a sun-bright day! Even for such omen would the Bride display No mirthful gladness:—serious is her face, Modest her mien; and she, whose thoughts keep pace With gentleness, in that becoming way Will thank you. Faultless does the Maid appear, No disproportion in her soul, no strife: But, when the closer view of wedded life Hath shewn that nothing human can be clear From frailty, for that insight may the Wife To her indulgent Lord become more dear. “Surprized by joy—impatient as the Wind” Surprized by joy—impatient as the Wind I wished to share the transport—Oh! with whom But thee, long buried in the silent Tomb, That spot which no vicissitude can find?

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 49 Love, faithful love recalled thee to my mind— But how could I forget thee?— Through what power, Even for the least division of an hour, Have I been so beguiled as to be blind To my most grievous loss?— That thought’s return Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn, Knowing my heart’s best treasure was no more; That neither present time, nor years unborn Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.

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Characteristics Of a Child three Years old Loving she is, and tractable, though wild; And Innocence hath privilege in her To dignify arch looks and laughing eyes; And feats of cunning; and the pretty round Of trespasses, affected to provoke Mock-chastisement and partnership in play. And, as a faggot sparkles on the hearth, Not less if unattended and alone Than when both young and old sit gathered round And take delight in its activity, Even so this happy Creature of herself Is all sufficient: solitude to her Is blithe society, who fills the air With gladness and involuntary songs. Light are her sallies as the tripping Fawn’s Forth-startled from the fern where she lay couched; Unthought-of, unexpected as the stir Of the soft breeze ruffling the meadow flowers; Or from before it chasing wantonly The many-coloured images impressed Upon the bosom of a placid lake. Maternal Grief Departed Child! I could forget thee once Though at my bosom nursed; this woeful gain Thy dissolution brings, that in my soul

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50â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Is present and perpetually abides A shadow, never, never to be displaced, By the returning substance, seen or touched, Seen by mine eyes, or clasped in my embrace. Absence and death how differ they! and how Shall I admit that nothing can restore What one short sigh so easily removed?— Death, life, and sleep, reality and thought, Assist me God their boundaries to know, O teach me calm submission to thy Will! â•… The Child she mourned had overstepped the pale Of Infancy, but still did breathe the air That sanctifies its confines, and partook Reflected beams of that celestial light To all the Little-ones on sinful earth Not unvouchsafed—a light that warmed and cheered Those several qualities of heart and mind Which, in her own blest nature, rooted deep Daily before the Mother’s watchful eye, And not hers only, their peculiar charms Unfolded,—beauty, for its present self And for its promises to future years, With not unfrequent rapture fondly hailed. â•… Have you espied upon a dewy lawn A pair of Leverets each provoking each To a continuance of their fearless sport, Two separate Creatures in their several gifts Abounding, but so fashioned that, in all That Nature prompts them to display, their looks Their starts of motion and their fits of rest, An undistinguishable style appears And character of gladness, as if Spring Lodged in their innocent bosoms, and the spirit Of the rejoicing morning were their own. â•… Such union, in the lovely Girl maintained And her twin Brother, had the parent seen, Ere, pouncing like a ravenous bird of prey,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 51 Death in a moment parted them, and left The Mother, in her turns of anguish, worse Than desolate; for oft-times from the sound Of the survivor’s sweetest voice (dear child, He knew it not) and from his happiest looks, Did she extract the food of self-reproach, As one that lived ungrateful for the stay, By Heaven afforded to uphold her maimed And tottering spirit. And full oft the Boy, Now first acquainted with distress and grief, Shrunk from his Mother’s presence, shunned with fear Her sad approach, and stole away to find, In his known haunts of joy where’er he might, A more congenial object. But, as time Softened her pangs and reconciled the child To what he saw, he gradually returned, Like a scared Bird encouraged to renew A broken intercourse; and, while his eyes Were yet with pensive fear and gentle awe Turned upon her who bore him, she would stoop To imprint a kiss that lacked not power to spread Faint colour over both their pallid cheeks, And stilled his tremulous lip. Thus they were calmed And cheered; and now together breathe fresh air In open fields; and when the glare of day Is gone, and twilight to the Mother’s wish Befriends the observance, readily they join In walks whose boundary is the lost One’s grave, Which he with flowers hath planted, finding there Amusement, where the Mother does not miss Dear consolation, kneeling on the turf In prayer, yet blending with that solemn rite Of pious faith the vanities of grief; For such, by pitying Angels and by Spirits Transferred to regions upon which the clouds Of our weak nature rest not, must be deemed Those willing tears, and unforbidden sighs, And all those tokens of a cherished sorrow, Which, soothed and sweetened by the grace of Heaven

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52â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth As now it is, seems to her own fond heart, Immortal as the love that gave it being.

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“If Thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven” If Thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven, Shine, Poet, in thy place, and be content! The Star that from the zenith darts its beams, Visible though it be to half the Earth, Though half a sphere be conscious of its brightness, Is yet of no diviner origin, No purer essence, than the One that burns, Like an untended watch-fire, on the ridge Of some dark mountain; or than those which seem Humbly to hang, like twinkling winter lamps, Among the branches of the leafless trees.

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“Six months to six years added, He remain’d” Six months to six years added, He remain’d Upon this sinful earth, by sin unstain’d. O blessed Lord, whose mercy then remov’d A Child whom every eye that look’d on lov’d, Support us, teach us calmly to resign What we possess’d and now is wholly thine.

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November, 1813â•› Now that all hearts are glad, all faces bright, Our aged Sovereign sits;—to the ebb and flow Of states and kingdoms, to their joy or woe Insensible;—he sits deprived of sight, And lamentably wrapped in twofold night, Whom no weak hopes deceived,—whose mind ensued, Through perilous war, with regal fortitude, Peace that should claim respect from lawless Might. Dread King of Kings, vouchsafe a ray divine To his forlorn condition! let thy grace Upon his inner soul in mercy shine;

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â•… The sonnet appeared first in the Courier, January 1, 1814, about a month after the defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig was announced in London. Published in 1815 as “Added, November 1813”—that is, added to the sonnet series “Liberty.”

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 53 Permit his heart to kindle, and embrace, (Though were it only for a moment’s space) The triumphs of this hour; for they are Thine! Composed in one of the Valleys of Westmoreland, on Easter Sunday With each recurrence of this glorious morn That saw the Saviour in his human frame Rise from the dead, erewhile the Cottage-dame Put on fresh raiment—till that hour unworn: Domestic hands the home-bred wool had shorn, And she who span it culled the daintiest fleece, In thoughtful reverence to the Prince of Peace Whose temples bled beneath the platted thorn. A blest estate when piety sublime These humble props disdain’d not! O green dales! Sad may I be who heard your sabbath chime When Art’s abused inventions were unknown; Kind Nature’s various wealth was all your own; And benefits were weighed in Reason’s scales!

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“Weak is the will of Man, his judgment blind” “Weak is the will of Man, his judgment blind; Remembrance persecutes, and Hope betrays; Heavy is woe;—and joy, for human-kind, A mournful thing,—so transient is the blaze!” Thus might he paint our lot of mortal days Who wants the glorious faculty assigned To elevate the more-than-reasoning Mind, And colour life’s dark cloud with orient rays. Imagination is that sacred power, Imagination lofty and refined: ’Tis hers to pluck the amaranthine Flower Of Faith, and round the Sufferer’s temples bind Wreaths that endure affliction’s heaviest shower, And do not shrink from sorrow’s keenest wind.

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54â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of wallace’s tower



“—How Wallace fought for Scotland, left the name Of Wallace to be found, like a wild flower, All over his dear Country; left the deeds Of Wallace, like a family of ghosts, To people the steep rocks and river banks Her natural sanctuaries, with a local soul Of independence and stern liberty.” MS.

Lord of the Vale! astounding Flood! The dullest leaf, in this thick wood, Quakes—conscious of thy power; The caves reply with hollow moan; And vibrates, to its central stone, Yon time-cemented Tower! And yet how fair the rural scene! For thou, O Clyde, hast ever been Beneficent as strong; Pleased in refreshing dews to steep The little trembling flowers that peep Thy shelving rocks among. Hence all who love their country, love To look on thee—delight to rove Where they thy voice can hear; And, to the patriot-warrior’s Shade, Lord of the vale! to Heroes laid In dust, that voice is dear! Along thy banks, at dead of night, Sweeps visibly the Wallace Wight; Or stands, in warlike vest, Aloft, beneath the moon’s pale beam, A Champion worthy of the Stream, Yon grey tower’s living crest! But clouds and envious darkness hide A Form not doubtfully descried:— Their transient mission o’er,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 55 O say to what blind regions flee These Shapes of awful phantasy? To what untrodden shore? Less than divine command they spurn; But this we from the mountains learn, And this the valleys show, That never will they deign to hold Communion where the heart is cold To human weal and woe. The man of abject soul in vain Shall walk the Marathonian Plain; Or thrid the shadowy gloom, That still invests the guardian Pass, Where stood sublime Leonidas, Devoted to the tomb. Nor deem that it can aught avail For such to glide with oar or sail Beneath the piny wood, Where Tell once drew, by Uri’s lake, His vengeful shafts—prepared to slake Their thirst in Tyrants’ blood!

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Suggested by a beautiful ruin upon one of the islands of Loch Lomond, a place chosen for the retreat of a solitary individual, from whom this habitation acquired the name of The Brownie’s Cell To barren heath, and quaking fen, Or depth of labyrinthine glen; Or into trackless forest set With trees, whose lofty umbrage met; World-wearied Men withdrew of yore,— (Penance their trust, and Prayer their store;) And in the wilderness were bound To such apartments as they found; Or with a new ambition raised; That God might suitably be praised.

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56â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth High lodged the Warrior, like a bird of prey; Or where broad waters round him lay: But this wild Ruin is no ghost Of his devices—buried, lost! Within this little lonely Isle There stood a consecrated Pile; Where tapers burn’d, and mass was sung, For them whose timid spirits clung To mortal succour, though the tomb Had fixed, for ever fixed, their doom! Upon those servants of another world When madding Power her bolts had hurled, Their habitation shook;—it fell, And perish’d—save one narrow Cell; Whither, at length, a Wretch retir’d Who neither grovell’d nor aspir’d: He, struggling in the net of pride, The future scorned, the past defied; Still tempering, from the unguilty forge Of vain conceit, an iron scourge! Proud Remnant was he of a fearless Race, Who stood and flourished face to face With their perennial hills;—but Crime Hastening the stern decrees of Time, Brought low a Power, which from its home Burst, when repose grew wearisome; And, taking impulse from the sword, And mocking its own plighted word, Had found, in ravage widely dealt, Its warfare’s bourn, its travel’s belt! All, all were dispossess’d, save Him whose smile Shot lightning through this lonely Isle! No right had he but what he made To this small spot, his leafy shade; But the ground lay within that ring To which he only dared to cling; Renouncing here, as worse than dead, The craven few who bowed the head

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 57 Beneath the change, who heard a claim How loud! yet liv’d in peace with shame. From year to year this shaggy Mortal went (So seem’d it) down a strange descent: Till they, who saw his outward frame, Fix’d on him an unhallow’d name; Him—free from all malicious taint, And guiding, like the Patmos Saint, A pen unwearied—to indite, In his lone Isle, the dreams of night; Impassion’d dreams, that strove to span The faded glories of his Clan! Suns that through blood their western harbour sought, And stars that in their courses fought,— Towers rent, winds combating with woods— Lands delug’d by unbridled floods,— And beast and bird that from the spell Of sleep took import terrible,— These types mysterious (if the show Of battle and the routed foe Had failed) would furnish an array Of matter for the dawning day! How disappeared He?—ask the Newt and Toad, Inheritors of his abode; The Otter crouching undisturb’d, In her dank cleft;—but be thou curb’d O froward Fancy! mid a scene Of aspect winning and serene; For those offensive creatures shun The inquisition of the sun! And in this region flowers delight, And all is lovely to the sight. Spring finds not here a melancholy breast, When she applies her annual test To dead and living; when her breath Quickens, as now, the wither’d heath;— Nor flaunting Summer—when he throws

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58â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth His soul into the briar-rose; Or calls the lily from her sleep Prolong’d beneath the bordering deep; Nor Autumn, when the viewless wren Is warbling near the Brownie’s Den. Wild Relique! beauteous as the chosen spot In Nysa’s isle, the embellish’d Grot; Whither, by care of Lybian Jove, (High Servant of paternal Love) Young Bacchus was conveyed—to lie Safe from his step-dame Rhea’s eye; Where bud, and bloom, and fruitage, glowed, Close-crowding round the Infant God; All colours, and the liveliest streak A foil to his celestial cheek!

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Effusion, in the pleasure-ground on the banks of the bran, near dunkeld

“The water fall, by a loud roaring, warned us when we must expect it. We were first, however, conducted into a small apartment where the Gardener desired us to look at the picture of Ossian, which, while he was telling the history of the young Artist who executed the work, disappeared, parting in the middle—flying asunder as by the touch of magic—and lo! we are at the entrance of a splendid apartment, which was almost dizzy and alive with waterfalls, that tumbled in all directions; the great cascade, opposite the window, which faced us, being reflected in innumerable mirrors upon the ceilings and against the walls.” Extract from the Journal of my Fellow-Traveller.

What! He—who, mid the kindred throng Of Heroes that inspired his song, Doth yet frequent the hill of storms, The Stars dim-twinkling through their: forms! What! Ossian here?—a painted Thrall, Mute fixture on a stuccoed wall; To serve—an unsuspected screen For show that must not yet be seen; And, when the moment comes, to part And vanish, by mysterious art;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 59 Head, Harp, and, Body, split asunder, For ingress to a world of wonder; A gay Saloon, with waters dancing Upon the sight wherever glancing; One loud Cascade in front, and lo! A thousand like it, white as snow— Streams on the walls, and torrent foam As active round the hollow dome, Illusive cataracts! of their terrors Not stripped, nor voiceless in the Mirrors, That catch the pageant from the Flood Thundering adown a rocky wood! Strange scene, fantastic and uneasy As ever made a Maniac dizzy, When disenchanted from the mood That loves on sullen thoughts to brood! â•… O Nature, in thy changeful visions, Through all thy most abrupt transitions, Smooth, graceful, tender, or sublime, Ever averse to Pantomime, Thee neither do they know nor us Thy Servants, who can trifle thus; Else surely had the sober powers Of rock that frowns, and stream that roars, Exalted by congenial sway Of Spirits, and the undying Lay, And names that moulder not away, Awakened some redeeming thought More worthy of this favoured Spot; Recalled some feeling—to set free The Bard from such indignity! â•… The Effigies of a valiant Wight I once beheld, a Templar Knight; Not postrate, not like those that rest On Tombs, with palms together prest, But sculptured out of living stone, And standing upright and alone,   “On the banks of the River Nid, near Knaresborough.” WW

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60â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Both hands with rival energy Employed in setting his sword free From its dull sheath—stern Sentinel Intent to guard St. Robert’s Cell; As if with memory of the affray Far distant, when, as legends say, The Monks of Fountain’s thronged to force From its dear home the Hermit’s corse, That in their keeping it might lie, To crown their Abbey’s sanctity. So had they rushed into the Grot Of sense despised, a world forgot, And torn him from his loved Retreat, Where Altar-stone and rock-hewn seat Still hint that quiet best is found, Even by the Living, under ground; But a bold Knight, the selfish aim Defeating, put the Monks to shame, There where you see his Image stand Bare to the sky, with threatening brand Which lingering Nid is proud to show Reflected in the pool below. â•… Thus, like the Men of earliest days, Our Sires set forth their grateful praise; Uncouth the workmanship, and rude! But, nursed in mountain solitude, Might some aspiring Artist dare To seize whate’er, through misty air, A Ghost, by glimpses, may present Of imitable lineament, And give the Phantom such array As less should scorn the abandoned clay; Then let him hew with patient stroke An Ossian out of mural rock, And leave the figurative Man Upon thy Margin, roaring Bran! Fixed, like the Templar of the steep, An everlasting watch to keep; With local sanctities in trust,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 61 More precious than a Hermit’s dust; And virtues through the mass infused, Which old Idolatry abused. â•… What though the Granite would deny All fervour to the sightless eye; And touch from rising Suns in vain Solicit a Memnonian strain; Yet, in some fit of anger sharp, The Wind might force the deep-grooved harp To utter melancholy moans Not unconnected with the tones Of soul-sick flesh and weary bones; While grove and river notes would lend, Less deeply sad, with these to blend! â•… Vain Pleasures of luxurious life, For ever with yourselves at strife; Through town and country both deranged By affectations interchanged, And all the perishable gauds That heaven-deserted Man applauds; When will your hapless Patrons learn To watch and ponder—to discern The freshness, the eternal youth, Of admiration sprung from truth; From beauty infinitely growing Upon a mind with love o’erflowing; To sound the depths of every Art That seeks its wisdom through the heart? â•… Thus (where the intrusive Pile, ill-graced With baubles of Theatric taste, O’erlooks the Torrent breathing showers On motley bands of alien flowers, In stiff confusion set or sown, Till Nature cannot find her own, Or keep a remnant of the sod Which Caledonian Heroes trod) I mused; and, thirsting for redress, Recoiled into the wilderness.

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62â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Yarrow Visited, september,

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And is this—Yarrow?—This the Stream Of which my fancy cherish’d, So faithfully, a waking dream? An image that hath perish’d! O that some Minstrel’s harp were near, To utter notes of gladness, And chase this silence from the air, That fills my heart with sadness! Yet why?—a silvery current flows With uncontrolled meanderings; Nor have these eyes by greener hills Been soothed, in all my wanderings. And, through her depths, Saint Mary’s Lake Is visibly delighted; For not a feature of those hills Is in the mirror slighted. A blue sky bends o’er Yarrow vale, Save where that pearly whiteness Is round the rising sun diffused, A tender, hazy brightness; Mild dawn of promise! that excludes All profitless dejection; Though not unwilling here to admit A pensive recollection. Where was it that the famous Flower Of Yarrow Vale lay bleeding? His bed perchance was yon smooth mound On which the herd is feeding: And haply from this crystal pool, Now peaceful as the morning, The Water-wraith ascended thrice— And gave his doleful warning.

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  In a note published with the poem in 1836, WW refers his reader to Yarrow Unvisited (c. 1803). See vol. 1 of this edition, and a third Yarrow poem, Yarrow Revisited, below.

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 63 Delicious is the Lay that sings The haunts of happy Lovers, The path that leads them to the grove, The leafy grove that covers: And Pity sanctifies the verse That paints, by strength of sorrow, The unconquerable strength of love; Bear witness, rueful Yarrow! But thou, that didst appear so fair To fond imagination, Dost rival in the light of day Her delicate creation: Meek loveliness is round thee spread, A softness still and holy; The grace of forest charms decayed, And pastoral melancholy. That Region left, the Vale unfolds Rich groves of lofty stature, With Yarrow winding through the pomp Of cultivated nature; And, rising from those lofty groves, Behold a Ruin hoary! The shattered front of Newark’s Towers, Renowned in Border story. Fair scenes for childhood’s opening bloom, For sportive youth to stray in; For manhood to enjoy his strength; And age to wear away in! Yon Cottage seems a bower of bliss; It promises protection To studious ease, and generous cares, And every chaste affection! How sweet, on this autumnal day, The wild wood’s fruits to gather, And on my True-love’s forehead plant A crest of blooming heather! And what if I enwreathed my own!

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64â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth ’Twere no offence to reason; The sober Hills thus deck their brows To meet the wintry season. I see—but not by sight alone, Lov’d Yarrow, have I won thee; A ray of Fancy still survives— Her sunshine plays upon thee! Thy ever-youthful waters keep A course of lively pleasure; And gladsome notes my lips can breathe, Accordant to the measure. The vapours linger round the Heights, They melt—and soon must vanish; One hour is theirs, nor more is mine— Sad thought, which I would banish, But that I know, where’er I go, Thy genuine image, Yarrow, Will dwell with me—to heighten joy, And cheer my mind in sorrow.

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To ——— From the dark chambers of dejection freed, Spurning the unprofitable yoke of care Rise, * * * * rise: the gales of youth shall bear Thy genius forward like a winged steed. Though bold Bellerophon (so Jove decreed In wrath) fell headlong from the fields of air, Yet a high guerdon waits on minds that dare, If aught be in them of immortal seed, And reason govern that audacious flight Which heav’n-ward they direct.— Then droop not thou, Erroneously renewing a sad vow In the low dell mid Roslin’s fading grove: A cheerful life is what the Muses love, A soaring spirit is their prime delight.

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  In 1820 WW replaced the asterisks with the surname of his Scottish friend, R. P. Gillies (1778–1858).

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 65 Extract from the conclusion of a poem, composed upon leaving school

Dear native Regions, I foretell From what I feel at this farewell, That, wheresoe’er my steps shall tend, And whensoe’er my course shall end, If in that hour a single tie Survive of local sympathy, My soul will cast the backward view, The longing look alone on you. Thus, when the Sun, prepared for rest, Hath gained the precincts of the West, Though his departing radiance fail To illuminate the hollow Vale, A lingering light he fondly throws On the dear Hills where first he rose.

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Laodamìa “With sacrifice, before the rising morn Performed, my slaughtered Lord have I required; And in thick darkness, amid shades forlorn, Him of the infernal Gods have I desired: Celestial pity I again implore;— Restore him to my sight—great Jove, restore!” So speaking, and by fervent love endowed With faith, the suppliant heav’n-ward lifts her hands; While, like the Sun emerging from a Cloud, Her countenance brightens,—and her eye expands, Her bosom heaves and spreads, her stature grows, And she expects the issue in repose. O terror! what hath she perceived?—O joy! What doth she look on?—whom doth she behold? Her hero slain upon the beach of Troy? His vital presence—his corporeal mold?

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  The reading text is that of Poems, 1815. For the early poem mentioned in the title, see ll. 354–365 of The Vale of Esthwaite in vol. 1 of this edition.

66â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth It is—if sense deceive her not—’tis He! And a God leads him—winged Mercury! Mild Hermes spake—and touched her with his wand That calms all fear, “Such grace hath crowned thy prayer, Laodamia, that at Jove’s command Thy Husband walks the paths of upper air: He comes to tarry with thee three hours’ space; Accept the gift, behold him face to face.” Forth sprang the impassion’d Queen her Lord to clasp; Again that consummation she essayed; But unsubstantial Form eludes her grasp As often as that eager grasp was made. The Phantom parts—but parts to re-unite, And re-assume his place before her sight. “Protesilaus, lo! thy guide is gone! Confirm, I pray, the Vision with thy voice: This is our Palace,—yonder is thy throne; Speak, and the floor thou tread’st on will rejoice. Not to appal me have the Gods bestowed This precious boon,—and blest a sad Abode.” “Great Jove, Laodamia, doth not leave His gifts imperfect:—Spectre though I be, I am not sent to scare thee or deceive; But in reward of thy fidelity. And something also did my worth obtain; For fearless virtue bringeth boundless gain. Thou know’st, the Delphic oracle foretold That the first Greek who touch’d the Trojan strand Should die; but me the threat did not withhold: A generous cause a Victim did demand; And forth I leapt upon the sandy plain; A self-devoted Chief—by Hector slain.” “Supreme of Heroes—bravest, noblest, best! Thy matchless courage I bewail no more, That then, when tens of thousands were deprest By doubt, propelled thee to the fatal shore:

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 67 Thou found’st—and I forgive thee—here thou art— A nobler counsellor than my poor heart. But thou, though capable of sternest deed, Wert kind as resolute, and good as brave; And he, whose power restores thee, hath decreed That thou shouldst cheat the malice of the grave; Redundant are thy locks, thy lips as fair As when their breath enriched Thessalian air. No Spectre greets me,—no vain Shadow this: Come, blooming Hero, place thee by my side! Give, on this well-known couch, one nuptial kiss To me, this day, a second time thy bride!” Jove frowned in heaven; the conscious Parcæ threw Upon those roseate lips a Stygian hue. “This visage tells thee that my doom is past: Know, virtue were not virtue if the joys Of sense were able to return as fast And surely as they vanish.—Earth destroys Those raptures duly—Erebus disdains: Calm pleasures there abide—majestic pains. Be taught, O faithful Consort, to control Rebellious passion: for the Gods approve The depth, and not the tumult of the soul; The fervor—not the impotence of love. Thy transports moderate; and meekly mourn When I depart, for brief is my sojourn—” “Ah, wherefore?—Did not Hercules by force Wrest from the guardian Monster of the tomb Alcestis, a reanimated Corse, Given back to dwell on earth in beauty’s bloom? Medea’s spells dispersed the weight of years, And Æson stood a Youth mid youthful peers. The Gods to us are merciful—and they Yet further may relent: for mightier far Than strength of nerve and sinew, or the sway Of magic potent over sun and star

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68â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Is love, though oft to agony distrest, And though his favorite seat be feeble Woman’s breast. But if thou go’st, I follow—” “Peace!” he said— She looked upon him and was calmed and cheered; The ghastly colour from his lips had fled; In his deportment, shape, and mien, appeared Elysian beauty—melancholy grace— Brought from a pensive though a happy place. He spake of love, such love as Spirits feel In worlds whose course is equable and pure; No fears to beat away—no strife to heal— The past unsighed for, and the future sure; Spake, as a witness, of a second birth For all that is most perfect upon earth: Of all that is most beauteous—imaged there In happier beauty; more pellucid streams, An ampler ether, a diviner air, And fields invested with purpureal gleams; Climes which the Sun, who sheds the brightest day Earth knows, is all unworthy to survey. Yet there the Soul shall enter which hath earned That privilege by virtue.— “Ill,” said he, “The end of man’s existence I discerned, Who from ignoble games and revelry Could draw, when we had parted, vain delight While tears were thy best pastime,—day and night: And while my youthful peers, before my eyes, (Each Hero following his peculiar bent) Prepared themselves for glorious enterprize By martial sports,—or, seated in the tent, Chieftains and kings in council were detained; What time the Fleet at Aulis lay enchained.

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The wish’d-for wind was given:—I then revolved   “For this feature in the character of Protesilaus, see the Iphigenia in Aulis of Euripides.” WW

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 69 Our future course, upon the silent sea; And, if no worthier led the way, resolved That, of a thousand vessels, mine should be The foremost prow in pressing to the strand,— Mine the first blood that tinged the Trojan sand. Yet bitter, oft-times bitter, was the pang When of thy loss I thought, beloved Wife; On thee too fondly did my memory hang, And on the joys we shared in mortal life,— The paths which we had trod—these fountains—flowers; My new-planned Cities, and unfinished Towers. But should suspense permit the Foe to cry, “Behold they tremble!—haughty their array, Yet of their number no one dares to die?”— In soul I swept the indignity away: Old frailties then recurred:—but lofty thought, In act embodied, my deliverance wrought. And thou, though strong in love, art all too weak In reason, in self-government too slow; I counsel thee by fortitude to seek Our blest re-union in the shades below. The invisible world with thee hath sympathized; Be thy affections raised and solemnized. Learn by a mortal yearning to ascend Towards a higher object:—Love was given, Encouraged, sanctioned, chiefly for this end. For this the passion to excess was driven— That self might be annulled; her bondage prove The fetters of a dream, opposed to love.” Aloud she shrieked! for Hermes re-appears! Round the dear Shade she would have clung—’tis vain: The hours are past, too brief had they been years; And him no mortal effort can detain: Swift tow’rd the realms that know not earthly day, He through the portal takes his silent way— And on the palace-floor a lifeless corse she lay.

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70â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ah, judge her gently who so deeply loved! Her, who, in reason’s spite, yet without crime, Was in a trance of passion thus removed; Delivered from the galling yoke of time And these frail elements to gather flowers Of blissful quiet mid unfading bowers. Yet tears to human suffering are due; And mortal hopes defeated and o’erthrown Are mourned by man, and not by man alone, As fondly he believes.—Upon the side Of Hellespont (such faith was entertained) A knot of spiry trees for ages grew From out the tomb of him for whom she died; And ever, when such stature they had gained That Ilium’s walls were subject to their view, The trees’ tall summits wither’d at the sight; A constant interchange of growth and blight!

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“Through Cumbrian wilds, in many a mountain cove” Through Cumbrian wilds, in many a mountain cove, The pastoral Muse laments the Wheel—no more Engaged, near blazing hearth on clean-swept floor, In tasks which guardian Angels might approve; Friendly the weight of leisure to remove, And to beguile the lassitude of ease; Gracious to all the dear dependences Of house and field,—to plenty, peace, and love. There, too, did Fancy prize the murmuring wheel; For sympathies, inexplicably fine, Instilled a confidence—how sweet to feel! That ever in the night calm, when the Sheep Upon their grassy beds lay couch’d in sleep, The quickening spindle drew a trustier line.

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“Emperors and Kings, how oft have Temples rung” Emperors and Kings, how oft have Temples rung With impious thanksgiving, the Almighty’s scorn!   “For the account of these long-lived trees, see Pliny’s Natural History, Lib. 16. Cap. 44.” WW

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 71 How oft above their altars have been hung Trophies that led the Good and Wise to mourn Triumphant wrong, battle of battle born, And sorrow that to fruitless sorrow clung! Now, from Heaven-sanctioned Victory, Peace is sprung; In this firm hour Salvation lifts her horn. Glory to arms! but, conscious that the nerve Of popular Reason, long mistrusted, freed Your Thrones, from duty, Princes! fear to swerve; Be just, be grateful; nor, the Oppressor’s creed Reviving, heavier chastisement deserve Than ever forced unpitied hearts to bleed.

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Written, November 13,1814, on a blank leaf in a Copy of the Author’s Poem The Excursion, upon hearing of the death of the late Vicar of Kendal To public notice, with reluctance strong, Did I deliver this unfinished Song; Yet for one happy issue;—and I look With self-congratulation on the Book Which pious, learned Murfitt saw and read;— Upon my thoughts his saintly Spirit fed; He conn’d the new-born Lay with grateful heart; Foreboding not how soon he must depart, Unweeting that to him the joy was given Which good Men take with them from Earth to Heaven.

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Artegal and Elidure— Where be the Temples which in Britain’s Isle To his paternal Gods the Trojan reared? Gone like a morning dream or like a Pile Of gorgeous clouds that in the west appeared! Ere Julius landed on her white-cliff’d shore They sank—deliver’d o’er To fatal dissolution, and I ween No vestige then was left that such had ever been. A British Record that had lain concealed Mid fairy-haunted woods and sainted springs,

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72â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In old Armorica the course revealed, The wondrous course of long-forgotten things, How Brutus came by oracles impelled And Albion’s Giants quelled, A brood whom no civility could melt, Who never tasted grace and goodness ne’er had felt. By brave Corineus aided he subdued And rooted out the intolerable kind; And this too-long-polluted Land imbued With gentle arts and usages refined; Whence golden harvests, cities, warlike towers, And pleasure’s peaceful bowers; Whence all the fix’d delights of house and home, Friendship that will not break and love that cannot roam. O, happy Britain!—Region all too fair For self-delighting fancy to endure That Silence only should inhabit there, Wild Beasts, or uncouth Savages impure! But intermingled with the generous seed Grew many [a] poisonous weed; Thus fares it still with all that takes its birth From human care, or grows upon the breast of earth. Hence, and how soon! that uncouth warfare waged By Guendolen against her faithless Lord, Till She, in jealous fury unassuaged, Had slain the Paramours with ruthless sword. Then, into Severn hideously defiled She cast their blameless Child, Sabrina, vowing that the Stream should bear That name through every age, her hatred to declare. Thus speaks the Chronicle, and tells of Lear, By his ungrateful Daughters turn’d adrift. Hear him ye Elements.— They cannot hear, Nor can the winds restore his simple gift. But one there is, a Child of Nature meek Who comes her sire to seek,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 73 And he, recovering sense, upon her breast Leans smilingly, and sinks into a perfect rest. There, too, we read of Spenser’s faery themes, And those that Milton loved in youthful years, The sage enchanter Merlin’s subtle schemes, The marvellous feats of Arthur and his peers, That British Hero, who, to light restored With that terrific sword Which now he wields in subterraneous war, Shall spread his country’s name in conquest wide and far. What wonder then if [in] the ample field Of that rich Volume one particular Flower, Doth seemingly in vain its sweetness yield And blooms unnoticed even till this late hour? Yet Gentle Muses your assistance grant While I this Flower transplant Into that Garden of pure poesy Which I have tended long in all humility. A King more worthy of respect and love Than wise Gorbonean ruled not in his day; And Britain rose in happiness above All neighboring Countries through his righteous sway; He poured rewards and favours on the good, The Oppressor he withstood, And while he served the Gods with reverence due Fields smiled, and Cities rose and Towns and Temples grew. Him Artegal succeeds—but oft the Son Degenerates from the Sire and so did he. A hopeful reign auspiciously begun Was darkened soon by vilest tyranny. From bad to worse he sank until at length The Nobles leagued their strength With the vex’d people and the Tyrant chased From out the realm whose throne his vices had disgraced. From land to land, the royal Exile went

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74â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Suppliant for aid his sceptre to regain; To many a court, and many a Warrior’s tent He urg’d his persevering suit in vain; Him, in whose wretched heart ambition failed Dire poverty assailed And tired of slights which he no more could brook Towards his native Land he cast a longing look. The winds and waves have aided him to reach That coast the object of his heart’s desire; But as the crownless Sovereign trod the beach His eye balls kindle with resentful ire As if incensed with all that he beholds— The woods, the naked wolds, And with the remnant of that faithful band That to his fortunes cleave and wait on his command. “Forgive this passion!—” Artegal exclaimed And as he spake they drew into a wood, And from its shady boughs protection claimed, For light they feared and busy neighbourhood. How changed from him who, born to highest place, Had swayed the royal mace Flattered and feared, despiséd and defied, In Troynovant, his seat by silver Thames’s side! Oft by imaginary terrors scared And sometimes into real danger brought To Calaterium’s forest he repaired And in its depth securer refuge sought. Thence to a few whom he esteemed his Friends A Messenger he sends, And from their secret loyalty requires Shelter and daily bread—the amount of his desires. With his Attendants, there, at break of morn Wandering by stealth abroad, he chanced to hear A startling outcry made by hound and horn; He would escape but sees the flying deer And scouring toward him o’er the grassy plain, Behold the hunter train;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 75 And bids his Friends advance and meet the Chase With seeming unconcern and with unaltered pace. The royal Elidure who leads the chase Hath checked his foaming Courser—“Can it be! Methinks that I should recognize that face Though much disguised by long adversity!” He gazed rejoicing—and again he gazed Confounded and amazed— “It is the King my Brother”—and by sound Of his own voice confirmed he leaps upon the ground. Long, strait, and tender was the embrace he gave, Feebly returned by trembling Artegal, Whose natural affection doubts enslave And apprehensions dark and criminal. Loth to disturb the moving interview The attendant Lords withdrew, And while they stood upon the plain apart Thus Elidure by words relieved his struggling heart. “Gorbonian’s heir, dear Brother, gladly met; Whence comest thou, to my knowledge lost so long?— But neither lost to love nor to regret— Nor to my wishes lost,—Forgive the wrong (Such it may seem) if I thy crown have borne, Thy regal mantle worn; I was their natural guardian, and ’tis just That now I should restore what hath been held in trust.” “To me the wretched, helpless, destitute, To me a Kingdom? Mock me not, I pray,” Said Artegal; “thy love bears bitter fruit, Ah let not Insult move me on my way! Had justice rul’d in breasts of foreign kings Then, then, upon the wings Of war had I returned to claim my right; This will I here avow not dreading thy despite.” “I do not blame thee,” Elidure replied, “But if my looks did with my words agree

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76â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth At once I should be trusted—not defied— And thou from all unwelcome thoughts be free. May spotless Dian, Goddess of the chase, Who to this blessed place At this blest moment led me, if I speak With insincere intent, on me her vengeance wreak! “If this same spear which in my hand I grasp Were Britain’s Sceptre here would I [to] Thee The symbol yield and would undo this clasp If it confined the robe of sovereignty. Joyless to me [the] pomp of regal court And joyless sylvan sport While thou art roving wretched and forlorn, Thy couch the dewy earth, thy roof the forest thorn!” Then Artegal thus spake—”I only sought Within this realm a place of safe retreat; Beware of rouzing an ambitious thought, Beware of kindling hopes for me unmeet! Thou bearst the name of wise; but in my mind Art pitiably blind. Full soon this generous impulse thou may’st rue When that which has been done no wishes can undo. “The greedy thirst of sovereignty, ’tis said, Allows no kindred and regards no right; But thou, I know not whence inspired, how led, Wouldst change the course of things in all men’s sight! And this for one that cannot imitate Thy virtue—who may hate; For if by such strange sacrifice restored He reign, thou still must be his king and sovereign Lord. “Lifted in magnanimity above Aught that my feeble nature could perform Or even conceive—surpassing me in Love Far as in power the eagle doth the worm— I only, brother, should be king in name And govern to my shame; A Shadow in an odious Land where all

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 77 Of prompt and willing service to thy share would fall.” “Believe it not,” said Elidure; “respect Awaits on virtuous life, and ever most Attends on goodness with dominion decked That stands the universal empire’s boast; This can thy own experience testify, Nor shall thy foes deny That in the opening of thy gracious reign Our Father’s Spirit seem’d, in thee, to rule again. “And what if o’er this bright unbosoming Clouds of disgrace and envious fortune past! Have we not seen the glories of the Spring By noontide darkness veiled and overcast? The lake that glitter’d like a sun-bright shield, The sky, the gay green field, Are vanished—gladness ceases in the [groves] And trepidation strikes the blackened mountain coves. “Once more the Sun victorious glimmers forth And the wide world is brighter than before! Such power is granted to thy latent worth To spread the light and joy from shore to shore; For past misdeeds how [?grateful] to atone! —Reseated on thy throne Give proof that long adversity and pain And sorrow have confirmed thy inborn right to reign!— “Yet not to overlook what thou mayst know Thy enemies are neither weak nor few; And circumspect must be our course and slow Or ruin from my purpose may ensue. Dismiss thy followers—Let them calmly wait Such change in thy estate, As I already have in thought devised And which with caution due may soon be realiz’d.” The Story tells that Artegal straitway Was by his Brother privily convey’d To a far distant city, at that day

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78â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Alclwyd named, whose fortress, undismayed By the hostility of mortals, stood In sight of land and flood, Obnoxious only on its lofty rock To the careering storms, and perilous lightning’s stroke. When this impregnable retreat was gain’d, In prudent furth’rance of his first intent King Elidure a mortal sickness feign’d And to his mightiest Lords a summons sent. —Softly and one by one into such gloom As suits a sick man’s room The Attendants introduce each potent peer That he his Sovereign’s will in singleness may hear. Said Elidure, “Behold thy rightful king; The banished Artegal before thee stands; Kneel and renew to him the offering Of thy allegiance: Justice this demands, Immortal justice speaking through thy voice; Receive him and rejoice! His guilt is expiated; he will prove Worthier than I have been of universal love.” If firm command and mild persuasion failed To change the temper of an adverse mind With such by other engines he prevail’d, Threatening to fling their bodies to the wind From the dread summit of a [?lonely] rock, Alclwyd, lofty rock, Alclwyd then but now Dumbarton named, A memorable crag through widest Albion famed. Departing thence to York their way they bent While the glad people flowers before them strewed And there King Elidure with glad consent Of all who saw, a mighty multitude, Upon his Brother’s head replaced the crown, Relinquished by his own, Triumph of justice and affection pure

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 79 Whence he the title gained of pious Elidure. A Brother thus a Brother did reclaim: Through admiration of the heroic deed The reelected Artegal became “A true converted man,” from bondage freed Of Vice,—from that day forward, on his Soul Possessing no controul; And when he died the worthy and the brave Shed tears of fond regret upon his honored grave.

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Inscription for a National Monument in commemoration of the battle of waterloo

Intrepid sons of Albion!—not by you Is life despised!—Ah no—the spacious earth Ne’er saw a race who held, by right of birth, So many objects to which love is due: Ye slight not life—to God and Nature true; But death, becoming death, is dearer far, When duty bids you bleed in open war: Hence hath your prowess quelled that impious crew. Heroes, for instant sacrifice prepared, Yet filled with ardour, and on triumph bent, Mid direst shocks of mortal accident, To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spared, To guard the fallen, and consummate the event, Your Country rears this sacred Monument!

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Occasioned by the Same Battle. february

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The Bard, whose soul is meek as dawning day, Yet trained to judgments righteously severe; Fervid, yet conversant with holy fear, As recognizing one Almighty sway: He whose experienced eye can pierce the array Of past events,—to whom, in vision clear, The aspiring heads of future things appear, Like mountain-tops whence mists have rolled away:

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80â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Assoiled from all incumbrance of our time, He only, if such breathe, in strains devout Shall comprehend this victory sublime; And worthily rehearse the hideous rout, Which the blest Angels, from their peaceful clime Beholding, welcomed with a choral shout.

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February 1816 O, for a kindling touch of that pure flame Which taught the offering of song to rise From thy lone bower, beneath Italian skies, Great Filicaia!— With celestial aim It rose,—thy saintly rapture to proclaim, Then, when the imperial city stood released From bondage threatened by the embattled East, And Christendom respired; from guilt and shame Redeemed,—from miserable fear set free By one day’s feat—one mighty victory. —Chaunt the Deliverer’s praise in every tongue! The cross shall spread,—the crescent hath waxed dim,— He conquering—as in Earth and Heaven was sung— He conquering through God, and God by him.

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To R. B. Haydon, Esq. High is our calling, Friend!—Creative Art (Whether the instrument of words she use, Or pencil pregnant with etherial hues,) Demands the service of a mind and heart, Though sensitive, yet, in their weakest part, Heroically fashioned—to infuse Faith in the whispers of the lonely Muse,

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  “â•›‘From all this world’s encumbrance did himself assoil.’â•… Spenser.” WW quotes from Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queen, VI, v.  “Ond’è ch’lo grido e griderò: giugnesti, Guerregiasti, è vincesti; Si, si, vincesti, O Campion forte e pio, Per Dio vinasti, e per te vinse Iddio. (1816) See Filicaia’s Canzone, addressed to John Sobieski, king of Poland, upon his raising the siege of Vienna. This, and his other poems on the same occasion, are superior perhaps to any lyrical pieces that contemporary events have ever given birth to, those of the Hebrew Scriptures only excepted.” WW refers to Vincenzo da Filicaia (1642-1707).

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 81 While the whole world seems adverse to desert: And, oh! when Nature sinks, as oft she may, Through long-lived pressure of obscure distress, Still to be strenuous for the bright reward, And in the soul admit of no decay,— Brook no continuance of weak-mindedness:— Great is the glory, for the strife is hard!

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November 1, 1815 How clear, how keen, how marvellously bright The effluence from yon distant mountain’s head, Which, strewn with snow as smooth as Heaven can shed, Shines like another Sun—on mortal sight Uprisen, as if to check approaching night, And all her twinkling stars. Who now would tread, If so he might, yon mountain’s glittering head— Terrestrial—but a surface, by the flight Of sad mortality’s earth-sullying wing, Unswept, unstained? Nor shall the aerial Powers Dissolve that beautyÂ�Â�—destined to endure White, radiant, spotless, exquisitely pure, Through all vicissitudes—till genial spring Have filled the laughing vales with welcome flowers.

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September 1815 While not a leaf seems faded,—while the fields, With ripening harvests prodigally fair, In brightest sunshine bask,—this nipping air, Sent from some distant clime where Winter wields His icy scymetar, a foretaste yields Of bitter change—and bids the Flowers beware; And whispers to the silent Birds, “Prepare Against the threatening Foe your trustiest shields.” For me, who under kindlier laws belong To Nature’s tuneful quire, this rustling dry Through the green leaves, and yon crystalline sky, Announce a season potent to renew, Mid frost and snow, the instinctive joys of song,— And nobler cares than listless summer knew.

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82â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “I watch, and long have watch’d, with calm regret” I watch, and long have watch’d, with calm regret Yon slowly-sinking Star,—immortal Sire (So might he seem) of all the glittering quire! Blue ether still surrounds him—yet—and yet; But now the horizon’s rocky parapet Is reach’d; where, forfeiting his bright attire, He burns—transmuted to a sullen fire, That droops and dwindles; and, the appointed debt To the flying moments paid, is seen no more. Angels and Gods! we struggle with our fate, While health, power, glory, pitiably decline, Depress’d and then extinguish’d: and our state, In this, how different, lost Star, from thine, That no to-morrow shall our beams restore!

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“Aerial Rock—whose solitary brow” Aerial Rock—whose solitary brow From this low threshold daily meets my sight; When I look forth to hail the morning light, Or quit the stars with lingering farewell—how Shall I discharge to thee a grateful vow?— By planting on thy head (in verse, at least, As I have often done in thought) the crest Of an imperial Castle, which the plough Of ruin shall not touch. Innocent scheme! That doth presume no more than to supply A grace the sinuous vale and roaring stream Want, through neglect of hoar Antiquity. Rise, then, ye votive Towers, and catch a gleam Of golden sun-set—ere it fade and die!

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Ode the morning of the day appointed for a general thanksgiving. january

18, 1816â•›

Hail, universal Source of pure delight!   For the Advertisement to the volume in which this poem appeared see the notes at the end of this volume.

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 83 Thou that canst shed the bliss of gratitude On hearts howe’er insensible or rude, Whether thy orient visitations smite The haughty towers where monarchs dwell; Or thou, impartial Sun, with presence bright Cheer’st the low threshold of the Peasant’s cell! —Not unrejoiced I see thee climb the sky In naked splendour, clear from mist or haze, Or cloud approaching to divert the rays, Which even in deepest winter testify â•…â•…â•… Thy power and majesty, Dazzling the vision that presumes to gaze. —Well does thine aspect usher in this Day; As aptly suits therewith that timid pace, Framed in subjection to the chains That bind thee to the path which God ordains â•…â•…â•… That thou shalt trace, Till, with the heavens and earth, thou pass away! Nor less the stillness of these frosty plains, Their utter stillness,—and the silent grace Of yon etherial summits white with snow, Whose tranquil pomp, and spotless purity, â•…â•…â•… Report of storms gone by â•…â•…â•… To us who tread below, Do with the service of this Day accord. —Divinest object, which the uplifted eye Of mortal man is suffered to behold; Thou, who upon yon snow-clad Heights hast poured Meek splendour, nor forget’st the humble Vale, Thou who dost warm Earth’s universal mould,— And for thy bounty wert not unadored â•…â•…â•… By pious men of old; Once more, heart-cheering Sun, I bid thee hail! Bright be thy course to-day, let not this promise fail! â•… Mid the deep quiet of this morning hour, All nature seems to hear me while I speak,— By feelings urged, that do not vainly seek Apt language, ready as the tuneful notes That stream in blithe succession from the throats

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84â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•…â•…â•… Of birds in leafy bower, Warbling a farewell to a vernal shower. —There is a radiant but a short-lived flame, That burns for Poets in the dawning East;— And oft my soul hath kindled at the same, When the captivity of sleep had ceased; But he who fixed immovably the frame Of the round world, and built, by laws as strong, â•…â•…â•… A solid refuge for distress, â•…â•…â•… The towers of righteousness; He knows that from a holier altar came The quickening spark of this day’s sacrifice; Knows that the source is nobler whence doth rise â•…â•…â•… The current of this matin song; â•…â•…â•…â•… That deeper far it lies Than aught dependant on the fickle skies. â•… Have we not conquered?—By the vengeful sword? Ah no, by dint of Magnanimity; That curbed the baser passions, and left free A loyal band to follow their liege Lord, Clear-sighted Honour—and his staid Compeers, Along a track of most unnatural years, In execution of heroic deeds; Whose memory, spotless as the crystal beads Of morning dew upon the untrodden meads, Shall live enrolled above the starry spheres. — Who to the murmurs of an earthly string â•…â•…â•… Of Britain’s acts would sing, â•… He with enraptured voice will tell Of One whose spirit no reverse could quell; Of one that mid the failing never failed: Who paints how Britain struggled and prevailed, Shall represent her labouring with an eye â•…â•…â•… Of circumspect humanity; â•…â•… Shall shew her clothed with strength and skill, â•…â•… All martial duties to fulfil; Firm as a rock in stationary fight; In motion rapid as the lightning’s gleam; Fierce as a flood-gate bursting in the night

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 85 To rouse the wicked from their giddy dream— Woe, woe to all that face her in the field! Appalled she may not be, and cannot yield. â•…â•…â•… And thus is missed the sole true glory â•…â•…â•… That can belong to human story! â•…â•…â•… At which they only shall arrive â•…â•…â•… Who through the abyss of weakness dive: The very humblest are too proud of heart: And one brief day is rightly set apart To Him who lifteth up and layeth low; For that Almighty God to whom we owe, Say not that we have vanquished—but that we survive. â•… How dreadful the dominion of the impure! Why should the song be tardy to proclaim That less than power unbounded could not tame That Soul of Evil—which, from Hell let loose, Had filled the astonished world with such abuse, As boundless patience only could endure? — Wide-wasted regions—cities wrapped in flame— Who sees, and feels, may lift a streaming eye To Heaven,—who never saw may heave a sigh; But the foundation of our nature shakes, And with an infinite pain the spirit aches, When desolated countries, towns on fire, â•…â•…â•… Are but the avowed attire Of warfare waged with desperate mind Against the life of virtue in mankind; â•…â•… Assaulting without ruth â•…â•… The citadels of truth; While the old forest of civility Is doomed to perish, to the last fair tree. â•… A crouching purpose—a distracted will— Opposed to hopes that battened upon scorn, And to desires whose ever-waxing horn Not all the light of earthly power could fill; Opposed to dark, deep plots of patient skill, And the celerities of lawless force Which, spurning God, had flung away remorse—

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86â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth What could they gain but shadows of redress? —So bad proceeded propagating worse; And discipline was passion’s dire excess. Widens the fatal web—its lines extend, And deadlier poisons in the chalice blend— When will your trials teach you to be wise? —O prostrate Lands, consult your agonies! â•…â•…â•… No more—the guilt is banished, â•… And with the Guilt the Shame is fled, And with the Guilt and Shame the Woe hath vanished, Shaking the dust and ashes from her head! —No more, these lingerings of distress Sully the limpid stream of thankfulness. What robe can Gratitude employ So seemly as the radiant vest of Joy? What steps so suitable as those that move In prompt obedience to spontaneous measures Of glory—and felicity—and love, â•… Surrendering the whole heart to sacred pleasures? â•… Land of our fathers! precious unto me Since the first joys of thinking infancy; When of thy gallant chivalry I read, And hugged the volume on my sleepless bed! O England!—dearer far than life is dear, If I forget thy prowess, never more Be thy ungrateful son allowed to hear Thy green leaves rustle, or thy torrents roar! But how can He be faithless to the past, Whose soul, intolerant of base decline, Saw in thy virtue a celestial sign, That bade him hope, and to his hope cleave fast! The nations strove with puissance;—at length Wide Europe heaved, impatient to be cast, â•…â•…â•… With all her living strength, â•…â•…â•… With all her armed powers, â•…â•…â•… Upon the offensive shores.

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  “â•›‘A discipline the rule whereof is passion.’—Lord Brook.” WW quotes a phrase from Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554– 1628), poet and biographer of Sir Philip Sidney.

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 87 The trumpet blew a universal blast! But Thou art foremost in the field;—there stand: Receive the triumph destined to thy Hand! All States have glorified themselves;—their claims Are weighed by Providence, in balance even; And now, in preference to the mightiest names, To Thee the exterminating sword is given. Dread mark of approbation, justly gained! Exalted office, worthily sustained! â•… Imagination, ne’er before content, â•… But aye ascending, restless in her pride, â•… From all that man’s performance could present, â•… Stoops to that closing deed magnificent, ╅╅╅╇ And with the embrace is satisfied. ╅╅╅╇ —Fly, ministers of Fame, Whate’er your means, whatever help ye claim, Bear through the world these tidings of delight! —Hours, Days, and Months, have borne them in the sight Of mortals, travelling faster than the shower, â•… That land-ward stretches from the sea, â•… The morning’s splendors to devour; But this appearance scattered extacy,— And heart-sick Europe blessed the healing power. â•… — The shock is given—The Adversaries bleed— â•… Lo, Justice triumphs! Earth is freed! Such glad assurance suddenly went forth— It pierced the caverns of the sluggish North— â•… It found no barrier on the ridge Of Andes—frozen gulphs became its bridge— The vast Pacific gladdens with the freight— Upon the Lakes of Asia ’tis bestowed— The Arabian desart shapes a willing road â•…â•…â•… Across her burning breast, For this refreshing incense from the West! â•…â•…â•… —Where snakes and lions breed, Where towns and cities thick as stars appear, Wherever fruits are gathered, and where’er The upturned soil receives the hopeful seed— While the Sun rules, and cross the shades of night—

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88â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The unwearied arrow hath pursued its flight! The eyes of good men thankfully give heed, â•…â•… And in its sparkling progress read How Virtue triumphs, from her bondage freed! Tyrants exult to hear of kingdoms won, And slaves are pleased to learn that mighty feats are done; Even the proud Realm, from whose distracted borders This messenger of good was launched in air, France, conquered France, amid her wild disorders, Feels, and hereafter shall the truth declare, That she too lacks not reason to rejoice, And utter England’s name with sadly-plausive voice.

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â•…â•…â•… Preserve, O Lord! within our hearts â•…â•…â•… The memory of thy favour, â•…â•…â•… That else insensibly departs, â•…â•…â•… And loses its sweet savour! Lodge it within us!—As the power of light Lives inexhaustibly in precious gems, Fixed on the front of Eastern diadems, So shine our thankfulness for ever bright! What offering, what transcendant monument Shall our sincerity to Thee present? —Not work of hands; but trophies that may reach To highest Heaven—the labour of the soul; That builds, as thy unerring precepts teach, Upon the inward victories of each, Her hope of lasting glory for the whole. —Yet might it well become that City now, Into whose breast the tides of grandeur flow, To whom all persecuted men retreat; If a new temple lift its votive brow Upon the shore of silver Thames—to greet The peaceful guest advancing from afar? Bright be the distant fabric, as a star Fresh risen—and beautiful within!—there meet Dependance infinite, proportion just; —A pile that grace approves, and time can trust.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 89 In reverential modesty demand, That all observance, due to them, be paid Where their serene progenitors are laid; Kings, warriors, high-souled poets, saint-like sages, England’s illustrious sons of long, long ages; Be it not unordained that solemn rites, Within the circuit of those gothic walls, Shall be performed at pregnant intervals; Commemoration holy that unites The living generations with the dead; â•…â•…â•… By the deep soul-moving sense â•…â•…â•… Of religious eloquence,— â•…â•…â•… By visual pomp, and by the tie â•…â•…â•… Of sweet and threatening harmony; â•…â•…â•… Soft notes, awful as the omen â•…â•…â•… Of destructive tempests coming, â•…â•…â•… And escaping from that sadness â•…â•…â•… Into elevated gladness; â•…â•…â•… While the white-rob’d choir attendant, â•…â•…â•… Under mouldering banners pendant, Provoke all potent symphonies to raise â•…â•…â•… Songs of victory and praise, For them who bravely stood unhurt—or bled With medicable wounds, or found their graves Upon the battle field—or under ocean’s waves; Or were conducted home in single state, And long procession—there to lie, Where their sons’ sons, and all posterity, Unheard by them, their deeds shall celebrate! â•…â•…â•… Nor will the God of peace and love â•…â•…â•… Such martial service disapprove. â•…â•…â•… He guides the Pestilence—the cloud â•…â•…â•… Of locusts travels on his breath; â•…â•…â•… The region that in hope was ploughed His drought consumes, his mildew taints with death; â•… He springs the hushed Volcano’s mine, He puts the Earthquake on her still design, Darkens the sun, hath bade the forest sink, And, drinking towns and cities, still can drink

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90â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Cities and towns—’tis Thou—the work is Thine! — The fierce Tornado sleeps within thy courts— â•…â•…â•… He hears the word—he flies— â•…â•…â•… And navies perish in their ports; For Thou art angry with thine enemies! â•…â•…â•… For these, and for our errors, â•…â•…â•… And sins that point their terrors, We bow our heads before Thee, and we laud And magnify thy name, Almighty God! â•…â•…â•… But thy most dreaded instrument, â•…â•…â•… In working out a pure intent, â•…â•…â•… Is Man—arrayed for mutual slaughter,— â•…â•…â•… Yea, Carnage is thy daughter! Thou cloth’st the wicked in their dazzling mail, And by thy just permission they prevail; â•…â•…â•… Thine arm from peril guards the coasts â•…â•…â•… Of them who in thy laws delight: Thy presence turns the scale of doubtful fight, Tremendous God of battles, Lord of Hosts! â•…â•…â•… To Thee—to Thee— On this appointed Day shall thanks ascend, That Thou hast brought our warfare to an end, And that we need no further victory! Ha! what a ghastly sight for man to see; And to the heavenly saints in peace who dwell, â•…â•…â•… For a brief moment, terrible; But to thy sovereign penetration fair, Before whom all things are, that were, All judgments that have been, or e’er shall be, Links in the chain of thy tranquillity! Along the bosom of this favoured nation, Breathe thou, this day, a vital undulation! â•…â•…â•… Let all who do this land inherit â•…â•…â•… Be conscious of Thy moving spirit! Oh, ’tis a goodly Ordinance,—the sight, Though sprung from bleeding war, is one of pure delight; Bless thou the hour, or ere the hour arrive, When a whole people shall kneel down in prayer, And, at one moment, in one spirit, strive

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 91 With lip and heart to tell their gratitude â•…â•…â•… For thy protecting care, Their solemn joy—praising the Eternal Lord â•…â•…â•… For tyranny subdued, And for the sway of equity renewed, For liberty confirmed, and peace restored! â•… But hark—the summons!—down the placid Lake Floats the soft cadence of the Church-tower bells; Bright shines the Sun, as if his beams might wake The tender insects sleeping in their cells; Bright shines the Sun—and not a breeze to shake The drops that point the melting icicles:— â•…â•…â•… O, enter now his temple gate! Inviting words—perchance already flung, (As the crowd press devoutly down the aisle Of some old minster’s venerable pile) From voices into zealous passion stung, While the tubed engine feels the inspiring blast, And has begun—its clouds of sound to cast â•…â•…â•… Towards the empyreal Heaven, â•…â•…â•… As if the fretted roof were riven. Us, humbler ceremonies now await; But in the bosom with devout respect, The banner of our joy we will erect, And strength of love our souls shall elevate: For to a few collected in his name, Their heavenly Father will incline his ear, Hallowing himself the service which they frame;— Awake! the majesty of God revere! â•… Go—and with foreheads meekly bowed Present your prayers—go—and rejoice aloud— â•…â•…â•…â•… The Holy One will hear! And what mid silence deep, with faith sincere, Ye, in your low and undisturbed estate, Shall simply feel and purely meditate Of warnings—from the unprecedented might, Which, in our time, the impious have disclosed; And of more arduous duties thence imposed Upon the future advocates of right;

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92â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•…â•…â•…â•… Of mysteries revealed, â•…â•…â•…â•… And judgments unrepealed,— â•…â•…â•…â•… Of earthly revolution, â•…â•…â•…â•… And final retribution,— â•… To his omniscience will appear An offering not unworthy to find place, On this high Day of Thanks, before the Throne of Grace!

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Elegiac Verses february

1816

â•…â•… “Rest, rest, perturbèd Earth! O rest, thou doleful Mother of Mankind!” A Spirit sang in tones more plaintive than the wind; “From regions where no evil thing has birth â•…â•… I come—thy stains to wash away, â•…â•… Thy cherished fetters to unbind, To open thy sad eyes upon a milder day! — The Heavens are thronged with martyrs that have risen â•…â•… From out thy noisome prison; â•…â•… The penal caverns groan With tens of thousands rent from off the tree Of hopeful life,—by Battle’s whirlwind blown â•…â•… Into the desarts of Eternity. â•…â•… Unpitied havoc! Victims unlamented! But not on high, where madness is resented, And murder causes some sad tears to flow, Though, from the widely-sweeping blow, The choirs of Angels spread, triumphantly augmented. â•…â•… “False Parent of Mankind! â•…â•… Obdurate, proud, and blind, I sprinkle thee with soft celestial dews, Thy lost maternal heart to reinfuse! Scattering this far-fetched moisture from my wings, Upon the act a blessing I implore, Of which the rivers in their secret springs, The rivers stained so oft with human gore, Are conscious;—may the like return no more! May Discord—for a Seraph’s care

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 93 Shall be attended with a bolder prayer— May she, who once disturbed the seats of bliss, â•…â•… These mortal spheres above, Be chained for ever to the black abyss! And thou, O rescued Earth, by peace and love, And merciful desires, thy sanctity approve!” â•…â•… The Spirit ended his mysterious rite, And the pure vision closed in darkness infinite.

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————Carmina possumus Donare, et pretium dicere muneri. Non incisa notis marmora publicis, Per quæ spiritus et vita redit bonis Post mortem ducibus————— ——————clarius indicant Laudes, quam————Pierides; neque, Si charæ sileant quod bene feceris, Mercedem tuleris.——Hor. Car. 8. Lib. 4.

When the soft hand of sleep had closed the latch On the tired household of corporeal sense, And Fancy in her airy bower kept watch, Free to exert some kindly influence; I saw—but little boots it that my verse A shadowy visitation should rehearse, For to our Shores such glory hath been brought, That dreams no brighter are than waking thought— I saw, in wondrous perspective displayed, A landscape richer than the happiest skill Of pencil ever clothed with light and shade; An intermingled pomp of vale and hill, Tower, town, and city—and suburban grove,

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  The epigraph is from Horace’s ode to Censorinus, which opens with the poet saying that if he could, he would give his friends works of art, and Censorinus does not care for such things: he takes pleasure in poems. Horace continues, in the passage WW quotes, “We can give verses, and declare the worth of the gift. Marbles inscribed with public notices, through which spirit and life return after death to good leaders, do not set forth praises more clearly than the Muses; nor will you receive a reward if writings are silent about your achievements.”

94â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And stately forest where the wild deer rove; And, in a clouded quarter of the sky, Through such a portal as with chearful eye The traveller greets in time of threatened storm, Issued, to sudden view, a radiant Form! Earthward it glided with a swift descent: Saint George himself this Visitant may be; And ere a thought could ask on what intent He sought the regions of humanity, A thrilling voice was heard, that vivified My patriotic heart;—aloud it cried,

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â•…â•… “I, the Guardian of this Land, â•…â•… Speak not now of toilsome duty— â•…â•… Well obeyed was that command, â•…â•… Days are come of festive beauty; Haste, Virgins, haste!—the flowers which summer gave â•…â•… Have perished in the field; But the green thickets plenteously will yield â•…â•… Fit garlands for the Brave, That will be welcome, if by you entwined! Haste, Virgins, haste;—and you, ye Matrons grave,

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Go forth with rival youthfulness of mind, â•…â•… And gather what ye find Of hardy laurel and wild holly boughs, To deck your stern defenders’ modest brows! â•…â•… Such simple gifts prepare, Though they have gained a worthier meed; â•…â•… And in due time shall share Those palms and amaranthine wreaths, Unto their martyred Countrymen decreed, In realms where everlasting freshness breathes!”

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â•… And lo! with crimson banners proudly streaming, And upright weapons innocently gleaming, Along the surface of a spacious plain, Advance in order the redoubted bands, And there receive green chaplets from the hands â•…â•… Of a fair female train, â•…â•… Maids and Matrons—dight

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 95 â•…â•… In robes of purest white,— While from the crowd burst forth a rapturous noise â•…â•… By the cloud-capt hills retorted,— â•…â•… And a throng of rosy boys â•…â•… In loose fashion told their joys,— And grey-haired Sires, on staffs supported, Looked round—and by their smiling seemed to say, Thus strives a grateful Country to display The mighty debt which nothing can repay! â•… Anon, I saw, beneath a dome of state, The feast dealt forth with bounty unconfined; And while the vaulted roof did emulate The starry heavens through splendour of the show, It rang with music,—and methought the wind Scattered the tuneful largess far and near, That they who asked not might partake the cheer, â•…â•… Who listened not could hear, Where’er the wild winds were allowed to blow! —That work reposing, on the verge Of busiest exultation hung a dirge, Breathed from a soft and lonely instrument, â•…â•… That kindled recollections â•…â•… Of agonized affections; And, though some tears the strain attended, â•…â•… The mournful passion ended In peace of spirit, and sublime content! â•… —But garlands wither,—festal shows depart, Like dreams themselves, and sweetest sound, â•…â•… Albeit of effect profound, â•…â•… It was—and it is gone! Victorious England! bid the silent art Reflect, in glowing hues that shall not fade, These high achievements,—even as she arrayed With second life the deed of Marathon â•…â•… Upon Athenian walls: So may she labour for thy civic halls; â•…â•… And be the guardian spaces â•…â•… Of consecrated places,

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96â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Graced with such gifts as Sculpture can bestow, When inspiration guides her patient toil; And let imperishable trophies grow Fixed in the depths of this courageous soil; Expressive records of a glorious strife, And competent to shed a spark divine Into the torpid breast of daily life; Trophies on which the morning sun may shine, â•…â•… As changeful ages flow, With gratulation thoroughly benign!

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â•… And ye, Pierian sisters, sprung from Jove And sage Mnemosyne,—full long debarred From your first mansions,—exiled all too long From many a consecrated stream and grove, Dear native regions where ye wont to rove, Chaunting for patriot heroes the reward â•…â•… Of never-dying song! Now, (for, though truth descending from above The Olympian summit hath destroyed for aye Your kindred deities, ye live and move, And exercise unblamed a generous sway,) Now, on the margin of some spotless fountain, Or top serene of unmolested mountain, Strike audibly the noblest of your lyres, And for a moment meet my soul’s desires! That I, or some more favoured Bard, may hear What ye, celestial maids! have often sung Of Britain’s acts,—may catch it with rapt ear, And give the treasure to our British tongue! So shall the characters of that proud page Support their mighty theme from age to age; And, in the desart places of the earth, When they to future empires have given birth, So shall the people gather and believe The bold report, transferred to every clime; And the whole world, not envious but admiring, â•…â•… And to the like aspiring, Own that the progeny of this fair Isle Had power as lofty actions to achieve

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 97 As were performed in Man’s heroic prime; Nor wanted, when their fortitude had held Its even tenour and the foe was quelled, A corresponding virtue to beguile The hostile purpose of wide-wasting Time; That not in vain they laboured to secure For their great deeds perpetual memory, And Fame as largely spread as Land and Sea, By works of spirit high and passion pure!

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Composed in Recollection of the Expedition of the French into Russia february

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â•… Humanity, delighting to behold A fond reflexion of her own decay, Hath painted Winter like a shrunken, old, And close-wrapt Traveller—through the weary day— Propped on a staff, and limping o’er the Plain, As though his weakness were disturbed by pain; Or, if a juster fancy should allow An undisputed symbol of command, The chosen sceptre is a withered bough, Infirmly grasped within a palsied hand. These emblems suit the helpless and forlorn; But mighty Winter the device shall scorn. â•… For he it was—dread Winter!—who beset, Flinging round van and rear his ghastly net, That host,—when from the regions of the Pole They shrunk, insane ambition’s barren goal, That host,—as huge and strong as e’er defied Their God, and placed their trust in human pride! As Fathers persecute rebellious sons, He smote the blossoms of their warrior youth; He called on Frost’s inexorable tooth Life to consume in manhood’s firmest hold; Nor spared the reverend blood that feebly runs,— For why, unless for liberty enrolled And sacred home, ah! why should hoary age be bold?

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98â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Fleet the Tartar’s reinless steed,— But fleeter far the pinions of the Wind, Which from Siberian caves the monarch freed, And sent him forth, with squadrons of his kind, And bade the Snow their ample backs bestride, â•…â•… And to the battle ride;— No pitying voice commands a halt— No courage can repel the dire assault,— Distracted, spiritless, benumbed and blind, Whole legions sink—and, in one instant, find Burial and death: look for them—and descry, When morn returns, beneath the clear blue sky, A soundless waste, a trackless vacancy!

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Sonnet, on the same occasion. february

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Ye Storms, resound the praises of your King! And ye mild Seasons—in a sunny clime, Midway on some high hill, while Father Time Looks on delighted—meet in festal ring, And loud and long of Winter’s triumph sing! Sing ye, with blossoms crowned, and fruits, and flowers, Of Winter’s breath surcharged with sleety showers, And the dire flapping of his hoary wing! Knit the blithe dance upon the soft green grass; With feet, hands, eyes, looks, lips, report your gain; Whisper it to the billows of the main, And to the aerial zephyrs as they pass, That old decrepit Winter—He hath slain That Host, which rendered all your bounties vain!

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Ode â•… Who rises on the banks of Seine, And binds her temples with the civic wreath? What joy to read the promise of her mien! How sweet to rest her wide-spread wings beneath! â•…â•… But they are ever playing,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 99 â•…â•… And twinkling in the light,— â•…â•… And if a breeze be straying, â•…â•… That breeze she will invite; And stands on tiptoe, conscious she is fair, And calls a look of love into her face— And spreads her arms—as if the general air Alone could satisfy her wide embrace. —Melt, Principalities, before her melt! Her love ye hailed—her wrath have felt! But She through many a change of form hath gone, And stands amidst you now, an armed Creature, Whose panoply is not a thing put on, But the live scales of a portentous nature; That, having wrought its way from birth to birth, Stalks round—abhorred by Heaven, a terror to the Earth! â•…â•… I marked the breathings of her dragon crest; My soul in many a midnight vision bowed Before the meanings which her spear expressed; Whether the mighty Beam, in scorn upheld, Threatened her foes,—or, pompously at rest, Seemed to bisect the orbit of her shield, Like to a long blue bar of solid cloud At evening stretched across the fiery West. â•… So did she daunt the Earth, and God defy! And, wheresoe’er she spread her sovereignty, Pollution tainted all that was most pure. —Have we not known—and live we not to tell That Justice seemed to hear her final knell? Faith buried deeper in her own deep breast Her stores—and sighed to find them insecure! And Hope was maddened by the drops that fell From shades—her chosen place of short-lived rest, Which, when they first received her, she had blest: Shame followed shame—and woe supplanted woe— In this the only change that time can show? How long shall vengeance sleep? Ye patient Heavens, how long? —Infirm ejaculation—from the tongue Of Nations wanting virtue to be strong

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100â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Up to the measure of accorded might,— And daring not to feel the majesty of right! â•… Weak spirits are there—who would ask, Upon the pressure of a painful thing, The Lion’s sinews, or the Eagle’s wing; Or let their wishes loose, in forest glade, â•…â•… Among the lurking powers â•…â•… Of herbs and lowly flowers, Or seek, from Saints above, miraculous aid; That Man may be accomplished for a task Which his own Nature hath enjoined—and why? If, when that interference hath relieved him, â•…â•… He must sink down to languish In worse than former helplessness—and lie â•…â•… Till the caves roar,—and, imbecility â•…â•… Again engendering anguish, The same weak wish returns—that had before deceived him. â•… But Thou, Supreme Disposer! might’st not speed The course of things, and change the creed, Which hath been held aloft before Men’s sight Since the first framing of societies; Whether, as Bards have told in ancient song, Built up by soft seducing harmonies,— Or pressed together by the appetite, â•…â•… And by the power of wrong!

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A Fact, and an Imagination; Or, Canute and Alfred The Danish Conqueror, on his royal chair Mustering a face of haughtiest sovereignty, To aid a covert purpose, cried—“O ye Approaching waters of the deep, that share With this green isle my fortunes, come not where Your Master’s throne is set!”—Absurd decree! A mandate, uttered to the foaming sea, Is to its motions less than wanton air. —Then Canute, rising from the invaded Throne,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 101 Said to his servile courtiers, “Poor the reach, The undisguised extent, of mortal sway! He only is a king, and he alone Deserves the name, (this truth the billows preach) Whose everlasting laws, sea, earth, and heaven obey.”

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This just reproof the prosperous Dane Drew, from the impulse of the Main, For some whose rugged northern mouths would strain At oriental flattery; And Canute (truth more worthy to be known) From that time forth did for his brows disown The ostentatious symbol of a Crown; Esteeming earthly royalty Contemptible and vain.

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â•… Now hear what one of elder days, Rich theme of England’s fondest praise, Her darling Alfred, might have spoken; To cheer the remnant of his host When he was driven from coast to coast, Distress’d and harass’d, but with mind unbroken; “My faithful Followers, lo! the tide is spent; That rose, and steadily advanced to fill The shores and channels, working Nature’s will Among the mazy streams that backward went, , And in the sluggish pools where ships are pent. And now, its task perform’d, the Flood stands still At the green base of many an inland hill, In placid beauty and sublime content! Such the repose that Sage and Hero find; Such measured rest the sedulous and good Of humbler name; whose souls do, like the flood Of Ocean, press right on; or gently wind, Neither to be diverted nor withstood, Until they reach the bounds by Heaven assigned.” On the Disinterment of the Remains of the Duke D’enghien Dear Reliques! from a pit of vilest mold Uprisen—to lodge among ancestral kings;

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102â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And to inflict shame’s salutary stings On the remorseless hearts of men grown old In a blind worship; men perversely bold Even to this hour; yet at this hour they quake; And some their monstrous Idol shall forsake, If to the living truth was ever told By aught surrendered from the hollow grave: O murdered Prince! meek, loyal, pious, brave! The power of retribution once was given; But ’tis a rueful thought that willow bands So often tie the thunder-wielding hands Of Justice, sent to earth from highest Heaven!

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Dion Fair is the Swan, whose majesty—prevailing O’er breezeless water on Loccarno’s Lake— Bears him on while, proudly sailing, He leaves behind a moon-illumin’d wake: Behold, the mantling Spirit of reserve Fashions his neck into a goodly curve, An arch thrown back between luxuriant wings Of whitest garniture, like firtree boughs To which on some unruffled morning clings A flaky weight of winter’s purest snows! —Behold—as with a gushing impulse heaves That downy prow, and softly cleaves The mirror of the crystal flood, Vanish the dusky Hill and shadowy wood And pendent rocks where’er in gliding state Winds the mute creature without visible Mate Or Rival, save the Queen of night Showering down a silver light From heaven, upon her chosen Favorite.

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2 So pure—so bright—so fitted to embrace, Where’er he turned, a natural grace Of haughtiness without pretence, And to unfold a still magnificence

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 103 Was princely Dion, in the power And beauty of his happier hour. Nor less the homage that was seen to wait On Dion’s virtue when the lunar beam Of Plato’s genius from its lofty sphere Fell round him in the grove of Academe, Softening his inbred dignity austere.

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3 If on thy faith the World delight to gaze, Pride of the World—beware! for thou mayst live, Like Dion, to behold the torch of Praise Inverted in thy presence, and to give Proof, for the historian’s page and poet’s lays, That Peace, even Peace herself, is fugitive.

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4 Five thousand Warriors (O the joyful day!) Each crown’d with flowers and arm’d with spear and Shield Or ruder weapon such as chance might yield, To Syracuse advanc’d in bright array. Who leads them on?— The anxious People see Long-exil’d Dion marching at their head, He also crown’d with flowers of Sicily And in a white far-beaming corselet clad. Pure transport undisturb’d by doubt or fear The Gazers feel, and, rushing to the Plain, Salute those Strangers as a holy train Or blest Procession (to the Immortals dear) That brought their precious liberty again. Lo! when the gates are entered, on each hand Down the long street rich Goblets fill’d with wine â•…â•…â•…â•… In seemly order stand On tables set as if for rites divine— And wheresoe’er the great Deliverer pass’d â•…â•… Fruits were strewn before his eye And flowers upon his person cast â•…â•… In boundless prodigality; Nor did the general Voice abstain from prayer, Invoking Dion’s tutelary care

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104â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth As if a very Deity he were.

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5 â•… Mourn, olive bowers of Attica—and Thou, Partake the sadness of the groves, Famed Hill Hymettus, round whose fragrant brow, Industrious Bees each seeking what she loves Or fraught with treasure which she best approves Their murmurs blend,—in choral elevation, Not wholly lost upon the abstracted ear Of unambitious men who wander near Immersed in lonely contemplation,— Mourn, sunny Hill, and shady Grove!—and mourn, Ilyssus, bending o’er thy classic urn! For He, who to divinity aspired Not on the wings of popular applause But through dependance on the Sacred laws Framed in the Schools where Wisdom dwelt retired, Hath stained the robes of civil power with blood, Unjustly shed though for the public good— Droops the Slave of fear and Sorrow, Depress’d today and unrelieved tomorrow, And oft his cogitations sank as low As through the abysses of a joyless heart The heaviest Plummet of despair can go— But whence that sudden check—that fearful start? â•…â•… He hears an uncouth Sound— â•…â•…â•… Anon his lifted eyes Saw, at a long-drawn gallery’s dusky bound, A Shape of more than mortal size And hideous aspect, stalking round and round! â•…â•…â•… A Woman’s garb the Phantom wore â•…â•…â•… And fiercely swept the marble floor— â•…â•…â•… Like winged Auster stooping low â•…â•…â•… His force on Caspian foam to try, Or Boreas when he scow’rs the snow That skins the plains of Thessaly, Or when aloft on Mænalus he stops His flight, mid eddying pine-tree tops.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 105 6 So, but from toil less sign of profit reaping, The sullen Spectre to her purpose bowed, â•…â•… Sweeping—vehemently sweeping— Long gazed the Chieftain—ere he spake—aloud— With even voice, and stern composure wrought Into his brow by self-supporting thought: “Avaunt, inexplicable Guest—avaunt, Intrusive Phantom!—let me rather see What they behold whom vengeful Furies haunt Who, while they struggle from the Scourge to flee, Move where the wretched Soil is not unworn And in their anguish bear what other minds have borne!”—

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7 But Shapes that come not at an earthly call Will not depart when mortal Voices bid— Lords of the visionary Eye whose lid Once raised, remains aghast, and will not fall— “Ye Gods, that servile Implement Obeys a mystical intent! Your Minister would brush away The spots that to my Soul adhere; But should She labour, night and day, They will not, cannot disappear— Whence angry perturbations,—and a look Which no Philosophy can brook.”—

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8 Away—for hark! a rushing sound A Conflict—and a groan profound! O matchless perfidy!—portentous lust Of monstrous crime—that horror—striking blade, Drawn in defiance of the Gods, hath laid The noble Syracusan low in dust! — Thus were the hopeless troubles that involved The soul of Dion instantly dissolved.— Released from life and cares of princely state,

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106â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth He left this moral grafted on his Fate:

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“Him only pleasure leads and peace attends, Him, only him, the Shield of Jove defends Whose Means are fair and spotless as his ends.” To ———, on her first ascent to the summit of helvellyn

Inmate of a mountain Dwelling, Thou hast clomb aloft, and gaz’d, From the watch-towers of Helvellyn; Awed, delighted, and amazed! Potent was the spell that bound thee In the moment of dismay, While blue Ether’s arms, flung round thee, Still’d the pantings of dismay. Lo! the dwindled woods and meadows! What a vast abyss is there! Lo! the clouds, the solemn shadows, And the glistenings—heavenly fair! And a record of commotion Which a thousand ridges yield; Ridge, and gulph, and distant ocean Gleaming like a silver shield! —Take thy flight;—possess, inherit Alps or Andes—they are thine! With the morning’s roseate spirit, Sweep their length of snowy line;

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Or survey the bright dominions In the gorgeous colours drest, Flung from off the purple pinions, Evening spreads throughout the west! Thine are all the choral fountains Warbling in each sparry vault

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 107 Of the untrodden lunar mountains; Listen to their songs!—or halt, To Niphate’s top invited, Whither spiteful Satan steer’d; Or descend where the ark alighted When the green earth re-appeared; For the power of hills is on thee, As was witnessed through thine eye Then, when old Helvellyn won thee To confess their majesty!

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“A little onward lend thy guiding hand” “A little onward lend thy guiding hand To these dark steps, a little further on!” — What trick of memory to my voice hath brought, This mournful iteration? For though Time, The Conqueror, crowns the Conquer’d, on this brow Planting his favourite silver diadem, Nor he, nor minister of his intent To run before him, hath enrolled me yet, Though not unmenaced, among those who lean Upon a living staff, with borrowed sight. —O my Antigone, beloved child! Should that day come—but hark! the birds salute The cheerful dawn brightening for me the east; For me, thy natural Leader, once again Impatient to conduct thee, not as erst A tottering Infant, with compliant stoop From flower to flower supported; but to curb Thy nymph-like step swift-bounding o’er the lawn, Along the loose rocks, or the slippery verge Of foaming torrents.—From thy orisons Come forth; and, while the morning air is yet Transparent as the soul of innocent youth, Let me, thy happy Guide, now point thy way, And now precede thee, winding to and fro, Till we by perseverance gain the top Of some smooth ridge, whose brink precipitous

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108â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Kindles intense desire for powers withheld From this corporeal frame; whereon who stands, Is seized with strong incitement to push forth His arms, as swimmers use, and plunge—dread thought! For pastime plunge—into the “abrupt abyss,” Where Ravens spread their plumy vans, at ease! â•… And yet more gladly thee would I conduct Through woods and spacious forests,—to behold There, how the Original of human art, Heaven-prompted Nature, measures and erects Her temples, fearless for the stately work, Though waves in every breeze its high-arched roof, And storms the pillars rock. But we such schools Of reverential awe will chiefly seek In the still summer noon, while beams of light; Reposing here, and in the aisles beyond Traceably gliding through the dusk, recall To mind the living presences of nuns; A gentle, pensive, white-robed sisterhood, Whose saintly radiance mitigates the gloom Of those terrestrial fabrics, where they serve, To Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, espoused. â•… Re-open now thy everlasting gates, Thou Fane of holy writ! Ye classic Domes, To these glad orbs from darksome bondage freed, Unfold again your portals! Passage lies Through you to heights more glorious still, and shades More awful, where this Darling of my care, Advancing with me hand in hand, may learn Without forsaking a too earnest world, To calm the affections, elevate the soul, And consecrate her life to truth and love.

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“I heard (alas, ’twas only in a dream)” I heard (alas, ’twas only in a dream) Strains—which, as sage Antiquity believed, By waking ears have sometimes been received, Wafted adown the wind from lake or stream; A most melodious requiem,—a supreme

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 109 And perfect harmony of notes, achieved By a fair Swan on drowsy billows heaved, O’er which her pinions shed a silver gleam:— For is she not the votary of Apollo? And knows she not, singing as he inspires, That bliss awaits her which the ungenial hollow Of the dull earth partakes not, nor desires? Mount, tuneful Bird, and join the immortal quires! She soared—and I awoke,—struggling in vain to follow.

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[Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the Eve of a New Year] “Smile of the Moon—for so I name That silent greeting from above, A gentle flash of light that came From her whom drooping Captives love; Or art thou of still higher birth, Thou that did’st part the clouds of earth My torpor to reprove! “Bright boon of pitying Heaven—alas, I may not trust thy placid cheer, Pondering that Time to-night will pass The threshold of another Year; For years to me are sad and dull; My very moments are too full Of hopelessness and fear. “And yet the soul-awakening gleam That struck perchance the farthest cone Of Scotland’s rocky wilds did seem To visit me, and me alone; Me unapproached by any Friend But those who to my sorrows lend Tears due unto their own.

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“Meek effluence—that while I trod With downcast eye, in narrow space   “See the Phedo of Plato, by which this Sonnet was suggested.” WW refers to to a passage in Plato’s Phaedo in which Socrates relates the legend of the swans, who are sacred to Apollo and through him have the gift of prophecy at their death, their “swan song.”   Untitled in this early version, but so titled in print in 1820.

110â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Did’st vivify the wintry sod As if an Angel filled the place With softened light—thou wert a touch Even to my heart of hearts—and such Is every gift of grace. “Yet wherefore did it leave the sky, And wherefore did it seem to speak Of something bordering all too nigh On what full oft I dare to seek? A happier order for my doom, A favoured æra when the gloom At length will cleave and break. “To-night the church-tower bells shall ring Through these wide realms a festive peal; To the new year a welcoming, A tuneful offering for the weal Of happy millions lulled in sleep, While I am forced lone watch to keep By wounds that may not heal. “Born all too high—by wedlock raised Still higher—to be cast thus low! Would that mine eyes had never gazed On aught of more ambitious show Than the sweet flowerets of the fields! —It is my royal State that yields The bitterness of woe. “A woman rules my prison’s key; A Sister Queen against the bent Of law and holiest sympathy Detains me doubtful of the event; Great God who feel’st for my distress, My thoughts are all that I possess; O keep them innocent! “Farewell for ever human aid Which abject Mortals blindly court! By friends deceived, by foes betrayed,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 111 Of fears the prey, of hopes the sport, Nought but the world-redeeming Cross Is able to supply my loss, My burthen to support. “Hark! the death-note of the year, Sounded by the Castle clock!” From her sunk eyes a stagnant Tear Stole forth, unsettled by the shock; But oft the woods renewed their green Ere the tired head of Scotland’s Queen Reposed upon the block.

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Captivity “As the cold aspect of a sunless way Strikes through the Traveller’s frame with deadlier chill, Oft as appears a grove, or obvious hill, Glistening with unparticipated ray, Or shining slope where he must never stray; So joys, remembered without wish or will, Sharpen the keenest edge of present ill,— On the crush’d heart a heavier burthen lay. Just Heaven, contract the compass of my mind To fit proportion with my altered state! Quench those felicities whose light I find Burning within my bosom all too late!— O be my spirit, like my thraldom, strait; And like mine eyes, that stream with sorrow, blind!”

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Sequel to the Foregoing [Beggars] composed many years after

Where are they now, those wanton Boys? For whose free range the daedal earth Was filled with animated toys. And implements of frolic mirth; With tools for ready wit to guide; And ornaments of seemlier pride,

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  WW’s Beggars, first published in 1807 in Poems, in Two Volumes, preceded Sequel in Poetical Works, 1827. For the text of Beggars, see vol. 1 of this edition.

112â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth More fresh, more bright, than Princes wear; For what one moment flung aside, Another could repair; What good or evil have they seen Since I their pastime witnessed here, Their daring wiles, their sportive cheer? I ask—but all is dark between! Spirits of beauty and of grace! Associates in that eager chase; Ye, by a course to nature true, The sterner judgment can subdue; And waken a relenting smile When she encounters fraud or guile; And sometimes ye can charm away The inward mischief, or allay, Ye, who within the blameless mind Your favourite seat of empire find! They met me in a genial hour, When universal nature breathed As with the breath of one sweet flower,— A time to overrule the power Of discontent, and check the birth Of thoughts with better thoughts at strife, The most familiar bane of life Since parting Innocence bequeathed Mortality to Earth! Soft clouds, the whitest of the year, Sailed through the sky—the brooks ran clear; The lambs from rock to rock were bounding; With songs the budded groves resounding; And to my heart is still endeared The faith with which it then was cheered; The faith which saw that gladsome pair Walk through the fire with unsinged hair. Or, if such thoughts must needs deceive, Kind Spirits! may we not believe That they, so happy and so fair, Through your sweet influence, and the care

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 113 Of pitying Heaven, at least were free From touch of deadly injury? Destined, whate’er their earthly doom, For mercy and immortal bloom!

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[Ode.—1817] Forsake me not, Urania, but when Ev’n Fades into night, resume the enraptur’d song That shadowed forth the immensity of Heavn In music—uttered surely without wrong (For ’twas thy work,) though here the Listener lay Couch’d on green herbage mid the warmth of May —A parting promise makes a bright farewell: â•…â•… Empow’rd to wait for thy return, â•…â•… Voice of the Heavn’s, I will not mourn; Content that holy peace and mute remembrance dwell â•…â•… Within the bosom of the chorded shell â•…â•… Tuned mid those seats of love and joy concealed By day; By Night imperfectly revealed; Thy native mansions that endure— Beyond their purest seeming—pure From taint of dissolution or decay. —No blights, no wintry desolations Affect those blissful habitations Built such as hope might gather from the hue Profound of the celestial blue And from the aspect of each radiant orb Some fix’d, some wandering with no timid curb Yet both permitted to proclaim Their Maker’s Glory with unaltered frame.

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2 And what if his presiding breath Impart a sympathetic motion Unto the gates of life and death Throughout the bounds of earth and ocean;   In 1820 WW titled the poem thus in The River Duddon, a Series of Sonnets; Vaudracour and Julia: and Other Poems; the poem is untitled in this early manuscript version. After considerable revision it became Vernal Ode in 1827...

114â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Though all that feeds on nether air Howe’er magnificent or fair, Grows but to perish and entrust Its ruins to their kindred dust, Yet by her ever-during care, Her procreant cradle Nature keeps Amid the unfathomable deeps And saves the changeful fields of earth From fear of emptiness or dearth. Thus, in their stations, lifting towards the sky The foliag’d head in cloud-like majesty, The shadow-casting race of trees survive; â•…â•… Thus in the train of Spring arrive â•…â•…â•… Sweet Flowers;—what living eye hath viewed â•…â•… Their numbers—endlessly renewed, â•…â•… Wherever strikes the Sun’s glad ray, â•…â•… Where’er the joyous waters stray; â•…â•… Wherever sportive Zephyrs bend â•…â•… Their course, or genial showers descend.

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3 O nurs’d at happy distance from the cares Of a too anxious World, mild, pastoral Muse That to the sparkling crown Urania wears And to her Sister Clio’s laurel wreath Preferr’st a garland cull’d from purple heath Or blooming thicket moist with morning dews; Oft side by side with some lov’d Votary Wrapp’d like Thyself in pleasing indolence While thy tired Lute hung on the hawthorn tree Hast thou sate listening till oer-drowsed sense Sank, hardly conscious of the influence To the soft murmur of the vagrant Bee. —A slender sound!—yet hoary Time Doth, to the Soul, exalt it—with the Chime Of all his years—a company Of ages coming, ages gone; Yet each and all in unison With that faint Utterance which tells

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 115 Of treasure suck’d from buds and bells And stored with frugal [?care] in waxen cells. 4 And is she brought within the power Of vision by this tempting flower, Observe each wing—a tiny van— The structure of her laden thigh How fragile—yet of ancestry Mysteriously remote and high; High as the imperial front of Man, The roseate bloom on woman’s cheek, The soaring Eagle’s curved beak, The white plumes of the floating swan— Old as the tyger’s paws, the lion’s mane Ere shaken by that mood of stern disdain At which the Desart trembles.—Humming Bee, Thy sting was needless then, perchance unknown; The seeds of malice were not sown; All Creatures met in peace from fierceness free And no pride blended with their majesty.

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Sonnet The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s hand; And, haply, there the spirits of the blest Live, clothed in radiance, their immortal vest; Huge Ocean frames, within his yellow strand, A Habitation marvellously planned, For life to occupy in love and rest; All that we see—is dome, or vault, or nest, Or fort, erected at her sage command. Is this a vernal thought? Even so, the Spring Gave it while cares were weighing on my heart, Mid song of birds, and insects murmuring; And while the youthful year’s prolific art— Of bud, leaf, blade, and flower—was fashioning Abodes, where self-disturbance hath no part.

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116â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ode to lycoris, may,

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An age hath been when Earth was proud Of lustre too intense To be sustain’d; and Mortals bowed The front in self-defence. Who then, if Dian’s crescent gleamed, Or Cupid’s sparkling arrow streamed While on the wing the Urchin play’d, Could fearlessly approach the shade? —Enough for one soft vernal day, If I, a Bard of ebbing time And nurtur’d in a fickle clime, May haunt this horned bay; Whose amorous water multiplies The flitting halcyon’s vivid dyes; And smoothes its liquid breast—to show These swan-like specks of mountain snow, White, as the pair that slid along the plains Of Heaven, when Venus held the reins!

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In youth we love the darksome lawn Brush’d by the owlet’s wing; Then, Twilight is preferred to Dawn, And Autumn to the Spring. Sad fancies do we then affect, In luxury of disrespect To our own prodigal excess Of too familiar happiness. Lycoris (if such name befit Thee, thee my life’s celestial sign!) When Nature marks the year’s decline Be ours to welcome it; Pleased with the soil’s requited cares; Pleased with the blue that ether wears; Pleased while the sylvan world displays Its ripeness to the feeding gaze;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 117 Pleased when the sullen winds resound the knell Of the resplendent miracle.

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But something whispers to my heart That, as we downward tend, Lycoris! life requires an art To which our souls must bend; A skill—to balance and supply; And, ere the flowing fount be dry, As soon it must, a sense to sip, Or drink, with no fastidious lip. Frank greetings, then, to that blithe Guest Diffusing smiles o’er land and sea, To aid the vernal Deity Whose home is in the breast! May pensive Autumn ne’er present A claim to her disparagement! While blossoms and the budding spray Inspire us in our own decay; Still, as we nearer draw to life’s dark goal, Be hopeful Spring the favourite of the Soul!

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Addressed to ———, on the longest day

Let us quit the leafy Arbour, And the torrent murmuring by; Sol has dropped into his harbour, Weary of the open sky. Evening now unbinds the fetters Fashioned by the glowing light; All that breathe are thankful debtors To the harbinger of night. Yet by some grave thoughts attended Eve renews her calm career; For the day that now is ended, Is the Longest of the Year.

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118â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Laura! sport, as now thou sportest, On this platform, light and free; Take thy bliss, while longest, shortest Are indifferent to thee! Who would check the happy feeling That inspires the linnet’s song? Who would stop the swallow wheeling On her pinions swift and strong?

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Yet, at this impressive season, Words, which tenderness can speak From the truths of homely reason, Might exalt the loveliest cheek; And, while shades to shades succeeding Steal the landscape from the sight, I would urge this moral pleading, Last forerunner of “Good night!” Summer ebbs;—each day that follows Is a reflux from on high, Tending to the darksome hollows Where the frosts of winter lie. He who governs the creation, In his providence assigned Such a gradual declination To the life of human kind. Yet we mark it not;—fruits redden, Fresh flowers blow as flowers have blown, And the heart is loth to deaden Hopes that she so long hath known.

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Be thou wiser, youthful Maiden! And, when thy decline shall come, Let not flowers, or boughs fruit-laden, Hide the knowledge of thy doom. Now, even now, ere wrapped in slumber, Fix thine eyes upon the sea

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 119 That absorbs time, space, and number, Look towards Eternity! Follow thou the flowing River On whose breast are thither borne All Deceiv’d, and each Deceiver, Through the gates of night and morn; Through the years’ successive portals; Through the bounds which many a star Marks, not mindless of frail mortals When his light returns from far. Thus, when Thou with Time hast travell’d Tow’rds the mighty gulph of things, And the mazy Stream unravell’d With thy best imaginings;

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Think, if thou on beauty leanest, Think how pitiful that stay, Did not virtue give the meanest Charms superior to decay. Duty, like a strict preceptor, Sometimes frowns, or seems to frown; Choose her thistle for thy sceptre, While thy brow youth’s roses crown. Grasp it,—if thou shrink and tremble, Fairest Damsel of the green! Thou wilt lack the only symbol That proclaims a genuine Queen; And ensures those palms of honour Which selected spirits wear, Bending low before the Donor, Lord of Heaven’s unchanging Year!

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120â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ode. the pass of kirkstone i

Within the mind strong fancies work, A deep delight the bosom thrills, Oft as I pass along the fork Of these fraternal hills: Where, save the rugged road, we find No appanage of human kind; Nor hint of man, if stone or rock Seem not his handy-work to mock By something cognizably shaped; Mockery—or model—roughly hewn, And left as if by earthquake strewn, Or from the Flood escaped:— Altars for Druid service fit; (But where no fire was ever lit Unless the glow-worm to the skies Thence offer nightly sacrifice;) Wrinkled Egyptian monument; Green moss-grown tower; or hoary tent; Tents of a camp that never shall be raised; On which four thousand years have gazed!

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Ye plowshares sparkling on the slopes! Ye snow-white lambs that trip Imprison’d mid the formal props Of restless ownership! Ye trees that may to-morrow fall, To feed the insatiate Prodigal! Lawns, houses, chattels, groves, and fields, All that the fertile valley shields; Wages of folly—baits of crime,— Of life’s uneasy game the stake,— Playthings that keep the eyes awake Of drowsy, dotard Time;— O care! O guilt!—O vales and plains,

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 121 Here, mid his own unvexed domains, A Genius dwells, that can subdue At once all memory of You,— Most potent when mists veil the sky, Mists that distort and magnify; While the coarse rushes, to the sweeping breeze, Sigh forth their ancient melodies!

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iii

List to those shriller notes!—that march Perchance was on the blast, When through this Height’s inverted arch Rome’s earliest legion passed! — They saw, adventurously impell’d, And older eyes than theirs beheld, This block—and yon whose Church-like frame Gives to the savage Pass its name. Aspiring Road! that lov’st to hide Thy daring in a vapoury bourn, Not seldom may the hour return When thou shalt be my Guide; And I (as often we find cause, When life is at a weary pause, And we have panted up the hill Of duty with reluctant will) Be thankful, even though tired and faint, For the rich bounties of Constraint; Whence oft invigorating transports flow That Choice lacked courage to bestow!

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iv

My soul was grateful for delight That wore a threatening brow; A veil is lifted—can she slight The scene that opens now? Though habitation none appear, The greenness tells, man must be there; The shelter—that the perspective Is of the clime in which we live; Where Toil pursues his daily round;

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122â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where Pity sheds sweet tears, and Love, In woodbine bower or birchen grove, Inflicts his tender wound. —Who comes not hither ne’er shall know How beautiful the world below; Nor can he guess how lightly leaps The brook adown the rocky steeps. Farewell thou desolate Domain! Hope, pointing to the cultur’d Plain, Carols like a shepherd boy; And who is she?—can that be Joy? Who, with a sun-beam for her guide, Smoothly skims the meadows wide; While Faith, from yonder opening cloud, To hill and vale proclaims aloud, “Whate’er the weak may dread the wicked dare, Thy lot, O man, is good, thy portion fair!”

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[To the Same]â•› Here let us rest—here, where the gentle beams Of noontide stealing in between the boughs Illuminate their faded leaves;—the air In the habitual silence of this wood Is more than silent; and this tuft of heath Deck’d with the fullness of its flowers presents As beautiful a couch as e’er was framed. Come—let us venture to exchange the pomp Of widespread landscape for the internal wealth Of quiet thought—protracted till thine eye Be calm as water when the winds are gone And no one can tell whither. Dearest Friend! We two have had such blissful hours together That were power granted to replace them (fetched From out the pensive shadows where they lie) In the first warmth of their original sunshine, Loth should I be to use it. Passing sweet Are the domains of tender memory!

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  This poem and the later version that follows refer back to Ode. To Lycoris, May, 1817, included above.

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 123 To the Same Enough of climbing toil!—Ambition treads Here, as mid busier scenes, ground steep and rough, Or slippery even to peril! and each step, As we for most uncertain recompense Mount tow’rd the empire of the fickle clouds, Each weary step, dwarfing the world below, Induces, for its old familiar sights, Unacceptable feelings of contempt, With wonder mixed—that Man could e’er be tied, In anxious bondage, to such nice array And formal fellowship of petty things! —Oh! ’tis the heart that magnifies this life, Making a truth and beauty of her own; And moss-grown alleys, circumscribing shades, And gurgling rills, assist her in the work More efficaciously than realms outspread, As in a map, before the adventurer’s gaze— Ocean and Earth contending for regard. â•… The umbrageous woods are left—how far beneath! But lo! where darkness seems to guard the mouth Of yon wild cave, whose jagged brows are fringed With flaccid threads of ivy, in the still And sultry air, depending motionless. Yet cool the space within, and not uncheered (As whoso enters shall ere long perceive) By stealthy influx of the timid day Mingling with night, such twilight to compose As Numa loved; when, in the Egerian Grot, From the sage Nymph appearing at his wish, He gained whate’er a regal mind might ask, Or need, of council breathed through lips divine. Long as the heat shall rage, let that dim cave Protect us, there deciphering as we may Diluvian records; or the sighs of Earth Interpreting; or counting for old Time His minutes, by reiterated drops, Audible tears, from some invisible source

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124â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth That deepens upon fancy—more and more Drawn tow’rd the centre whence those sighs creep forth To awe the lightness of humanity. Or, shutting up thyself within thyself, There let me see thee sink into a mood Of gentler thought, protracted till thine eye Be calm as water when the winds are gone, And no one can tell whither. Dearest Friend! We two have known such happy hours together, That, were power granted to replace them (fetched From out the pensive shadows where they lie) In the first warmth of their original sunshine, Loth should I be to use it: passing sweet Are the domains of tender memory!

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Ode, composed upon an evening of extraordinary splendor and beauty

1 Had this effulgence disappeared With flying haste, I might have sent Among the speechless clouds a look Of blank astonishment; But ’tis endued with power to stay And solemnize one closing day That frail Mortality may see What is? ah no—but what can be. Time was when field and watry cove With modulated echoes rang Of harp and voice while Angels sang Amid the umbrageous grove; Or ranged like stars along some sovereign Height Warbled for heaven above and earth below Strains suitable to both. Ye Sons of light, If such communion were repeated now Nor harp nor Seraph’s voice could move Sublimer rapture, holier love, Than doth this silent spectacle—the gleam, The shadow—and the peace supreme.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 125 2 What though no sound be heard? A deep And solemn harmony pervades The hollow vale from steep to steep And penetrates the glades. Far-distant images draw nigh Call’d forth by wondrous potency Of beamy radiance that imbues Whate’er it strikes with gem-like hues. In vision exquisitely clear Herds graze along the mountain-side And glistening antlers are descried And gilded flocks appear. Thine is the tranquil hour, purpureal Eve! But long as god-like wish or hope divine Informs my spirit, ne’er I can believe That this magnificence is wholly thine! From worlds unquicken’d by the Sun A portion of the gift is won, An intermingling of heav’n’s pomp is spread On ground which British Shepherds tread.

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3 Whence but from some celestial urn These colours—wont to meet my eye Where’er I wandered in the morn Of blissful infancy? This glimpse of glory, why renewed? Nay, rather speak in gratitude! For, if a vestige of those gleams Survived, ’twas only in my dreams. Dread Power! whom peace and calmness serve No less than Nature’s threatening voice, If aught unworthy be my choice, From Thee if I would swerve, O let thy grace remind me of the light, Full early lost and fruitlessly deplored, Which, at this moment, on my waking sight Appears to shine, by miracle restored.

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126â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth My Soul though yet confined to earth Rejoices in a second birth! —Tis past—the visionary splendor fades And Night approaches with her shades.

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“Indulgent Muse, if Thou the labour share” Indulgent Muse, if Thou the labour share This Object of my care Shall grow a garden stock’d with poesy— Bright Weeds and flowers of song Which have been tended long In all humility.

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Hint from the Mountains for certain political aspirants

Stranger, ’tis a sight of pleasure When the wings of genius rise, Their ability to measure With great enterprise; But in man was ne’er such daring As yon Hawk exhibits, pairing His brave spirit with the war in The stormy skies! Mark him, how his power he uses, Lays it by, at will resumes! Mark, ere for his haunt he chooses Clouds and utter glooms! There, he wheels in downward mazes; Sunward now his flight he raises, Catches fire, as seems, and blazes With uninjur’d plumes!—

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answer

Traveller, ’tis no act of courage Which aloft thou dost discern; No bold bird gone forth to forage Mid the tempest stern; But such mockery as the Nations

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 127 See, when Commonwealth-vexations Lift men from their native stations, Like yon tuft of fern; Such it is, and not a Haggard Soaring on undaunted wing; ’Tis by nature dull and laggard, A poor helpless Thing, Dry, and withered, light and yellow;— That to be the tempest’s fellow! Wait—and you shall see how hollow Its endeavouring!

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Inscriptions, supposed to be found in, and near, a hermit’s cell

I Hast thou seen, with train incessant, Bubbles gliding under ice, Bodied forth and evanescent, No one knows by what device? Such are thoughts!—a wind-swept meadow Mimicking a troubled sea— Such is life;—and death a shadow From the rock eternity!

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II inscribed upon a rock

Pause, Traveller! whosoe’er thou be Whom chance may lead to this retreat, Where silence yields reluctantly Even to the fleecy straggler’s bleat; Give voice to what my hand shall trace, And fear not lest an idle sound Of words unsuited to the place, Disturb its solitude profound. I saw this Rock, while vernal air

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128â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Blew softly o’er the russet heath, Uphold a Monument as fair As Church or Abbey furnisheth.

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Unsullied did it meet the day, Like marble white, like ether pure; As if beneath some hero lay, Honour’d with costliest sepulture. My fancy kindled as I gazed; And, ever as the sun shone forth, The flatter’d structure glisten’d, blazed, And seemed the proudest thing on earth.

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But Frost had reared the gorgeous Pile Unsound as those which fortune builds; To undermine with secret guile, Sapp’d by the very beam that gilds. And, while I gazed, with sudden shock Fell the whole Fabric to the ground; And naked left this dripping Rock, With shapeless ruin spread around!

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III Hopes what are they?—Beads of morning Strung on slender blades of grass; Or a spider’s web adorning In a strait and treacherous pass. What are fears but voices airy? Whispering harm where harm is not, And deluding the unwary Till the fatal bolt is shot! What is glory?—in the socket See how dying Tapers fare! What is pride?—a whizzing rocket That would emulate a star. What is friendship?—do not trust her, Nor the vows which she has made;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 129 Diamonds dart their brightest lustre From a palsy-shaken head. What is truth?—a staff rejected; Duty?—an unwelcome clog; Joy?—a dazzling moon reflected In a swamp or watery bog;

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Bright, as if through ether steering, To the Traveller’s eye it shone: He hath hailed it re-appearing— And as quickly it is gone; Gone, as if for ever hidden, Or misshapen to the sight; And by sullen weeds forbidden To resume its native light.

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What is youth?—a dancing billow, Winds behind, and rocks before! Age?—a drooping, tottering willow On a flat and lazy shore. What is peace?—when pain is over, And love ceases to rebel, Let the last faint sigh discover That precedes the passing knell!

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IV near the spring of the hermitage

Troubled long with warring notions, Long impatient of thy rod, I resign my soul’s emotions Unto Thee, mysterious God! What avails the kindly shelter Yielded by this craggy rent, If my spirit toss and welter On the waves of discontent? Parching Summer hath no warrant

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130â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To consume this crystal well; Rains, that make each rill a torrent, Neither sully it nor swell. Thus dishonouring not her station, Would my Life present to Thee, Gracious God, the pure oblation Of divine Tranquillity!

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V Not seldom, clad in radiant vest, Deceitfully goes forth the Morn; Not seldom Evening in the west Sinks smilingly forsworn. The smoothest seas will sometimes prove, To the confiding Bark, untrue; And, if she trust the stars above, They can be treacherous too. The umbrageous Oak, in pomp outspread, Full oft, when storms the welkin rend, Draws lightning down upon the head It promis’d to defend. But Thou art true, incarnate Lord! Who didst vouchsafe for man to die; Thy smile is sure, thy plighted word No change can falsify! I bent before thy gracious throne, And asked for peace with suppliant knee; And peace was given,—nor peace alone, But faith, and hope, and extacy! Placard for a Poll bearing an Old Shirt If money I lack The shirt on my back Shall off—and go to the hammer;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 131 For though with bare skin By G— I’ll be in, And raise up a radical clamor!

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“The Scottish Broom on Bird-nest brae” The Scottish Broom on Bird-nest brae Twelve tedious years ago, When many plants strange blossoms bore That puzzled high and low, A not unnatural longing felt, What longing, would ye know? Why, Friend, to deck her supple twigs With yellow in full blow. To Lowther Castle she addressed A prayer both bold and sly, (For all the Brooms on Bird-nest Brae Can talk and speechify) That flattering breezes blowing thence Their succour would supply; Then she would instantly put forth A flag of Yellow die. But from the Castle turret blew A chill forbidding blast, Which the poor Broom no sooner felt Than she shrank up as fast: Her wished-for yellow she foreswore, And since that time has cast Fond looks on colours three or four, And put forth Blue at last. But now my Lads, the Election comes In June’s sunshiny hours When every field, and bank, and brae Is clad with yellow flowers; While factious Blue from Shops and Booths Tricks out her blustering powers,

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  WW suggested an improvement on this line, “Though I sell shirt, and skin,” to his correspondent, Lord Lonsdale, February 25, 1818.

132â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Lo! smiling Nature’s lavish hand Has furnished wreathes for ours. The Pilgrim’s Dream or, the star and the glow-worm

A Pilgrim, when the summer day Had closed upon his weary way, A lodging begg’d beneath a castle’s roof; But him the haughty Warder spurn’d; And from the gate the Pilgrim turn’d, To seek such covert as the field Or heath-besprinkled copse might yield, Or lofty wood, shower-proof. He paced along; and, pensively Halting beneath a shady tree, Whose moss-grown root might serve for couch or seat, Fixed on a Star his upward eye; Then, from the tenant of the sky He turned, and watch’d with kindred look, A glow-worm, in a dusky nook, Apparent at his feet. The murmur of a neighbouring stream Induced a soft and slumb’rous dream, A pregnant dream within whose shadowy bounds He recognised the earth-born Star, And That whose radiance gleam’d from far; And (strange to witness!) from the frame Of the ethereal Orb there came Intelligible sounds. Much did it taunt the humbler Light That now, when day was fled, and night Hushed the dark earth—fast closing weary eyes, A very Reptile could presume To show her taper in the gloom, As if in rivalship with One Who sate a Ruler on his throne Erected in the skies.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 133 “Exalted Star!” the Worm replied, “Abate this unbecoming pride, Or with a less uneasy lustre shine; Thou shrink’st as momently thy rays Are master’d by the breathing haze; While neither mist, nor thickest cloud That shapes in heaven its murky shroud, Hath power to injure mine. Yet not for this do I aspire To match the spark of local fire, That at my will burns on the dewy lawn, With thy acknowledged glories;—No! But it behoves that thou shouldst know What favours do attend me here, Till, like thyself, I disappear Before the purple dawn.” When this in modest guise was said, Across the welkin seem’d to spread A boding sound—for aught but sleep unfit! Hills quaked—the rivers backward ran— That Star, so proud of late, looked wan; And reeled with visionary stir In the blue depth, like Lucifer Cast headlong to the pit! Fire raged,—and when the spangled floor Of ancient ether was no more, New heavens succeeded, by the dream brought forth: And all the happy souls that rode Transfigured through that fresh abode, Had heretofore, in humble trust, Shone meekly mid their native dust, The Glow-worms of the earth! This knowledge, from an Angel’s voice Proceeding, made the heart rejoice Of Him who slept upon the open lea: Waking at morn he murmur’d not; And, till life’s journey closed, the spot

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134â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Was to the Pilgrim’s soul endeared, Where by that dream he had been cheered Beneath the shady tree.

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Sonnets suggested by mr. w. westall’s views of the caves,

&c.

in yorkshire

“Pure element of waters! wheresoe’er” Pure element of waters! wheresoe’er Thou dost forsake thy subterranean haunts, Green herbs, bright flowers, and berry-bearing plants, — Rise into life and in thy train appear: And, through the sunny portion of the year, Swift insects shine, thy hovering pursuivants: And, if thy bounty fail, the forest pants; And hart and hind and hunter with his spear, Languish and droop together. Nor unfelt In man’s perturbed soul thy sway benign; And, haply, far within the marble belt Of central earth, where tortured Spirits pine For grace and goodness lost, thy murmurs melt Their anguish,—and they blend sweet songs with thine!

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Malham Cove Was the aim frustrated by force or guile, When giants scoop’d from out the rocky ground — Tier under tier—this semicirque profound? (Giants—the same who built in Erin’s isle That Causeway with incomparable toil!) O, had this vast theatric structure wound With finish’d sweep into a perfect round, No mightier work had gain’d the plausive smile Of all-beholding Phœbus! But, alas, Vain earth!—false world! Foundations must be laid In Heav’n; for, mid the wreck of is and was,

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â•… “Waters (as Mr. Westall informs us in the letter-press prefixed to his admirable views) are invariably found to flow through these caverns.” WW

Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 135 Things incomplete and purposes betrayed Make sadder transits o’er truth’s mystic glass Than noblest objects utterly decayed. Gordale At early dawn,—or rather when the air Glimmers with fading light, and shadowy eve Is busiest to confer and to bereave,— Then, pensive votary, let thy feet repair To Gordale-chasm, terrific as the lair Where the young lions couch;—for so, by leave Of the propitious hour, thou may’st perceive The local Deity, with oozy hair And mineral crown, beside his jagged urn Recumbent:—Him thou may’st behold, who hides His lineaments by day, and there presides, Teaching the docile waters how to turn; Or, if need be, impediment to spurn, And force their passage to the salt-sea tides!

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Composed on the Banks of a Rocky Stream Dogmatic Teachers, of the snow-white fur! Ye wrangling Schoolmen, of the scarlet hood! Who, with a keenness not to be withstood, Press the point home,—or falter and demur, Checked in your course by many a teazing burr; These natural council-seats your acrid blood Might cool;—and, as the Genius of the flood Stoops willingly to animate and spur Each lighter function slumbering in the brain, Yon eddying balls of foam—these arrowy gleams, That o’er the pavement of the surging streams Welter and flash—a synod might detain With subtile speculations, haply vain, But surely less so than your far-fetched themes! To a Snow-drop, appearing very early in the Season. Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they But hardier far, though modestly thou bend

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136â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Thy front—as if such presence could offend! Who guards thy slender stalk while, day by day, Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, way-lay The rising sun, and on the plains descend? Accept the greeting that befits a friend Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May Shall soon behold this border thickly set With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers; Yet will I not thy gentle grace forget Chaste Snow-drop, vent’rous harbinger of Spring, And pensive monitor of fleeting years!

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Sonnet on seeing a tuft of snowdrops in a storm

When haughty expectations prostrate lie, And grandeur crouches like a guilty thing, Oft shall the lowly weak, till nature bring Mature release, in fair society Survive, and Fortune’s utmost anger try; Like these frail snow-drops that together cling, And nod their helmets smitten by the wing Of many a furious whirlblast sweeping by. Observe the faithful flowers! if small to great May lead the thoughts, thus struggling used to stand The Emathian phalanx, nobly obstinate; And so the bright immortal Theban band, Whom onset, fiercely urged at Jove’s command, Might overwhelm, but could not separate!

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Composed during one of the most awful of the late Storms, Feb. 1819 One who was suffering tumult in his soul Yet fail’d to seek the sure relief of prayer— Went forth—his course surrendering to the care Of the fierce wind, while mid-day lightnings prowl Insidiously,—untimely thunders growl,— While trees, dim-seen, in frenzied numbers tear

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 137 The lingering remnant of their yellow hair,— And shivering wolves, surpris’d with darkness, howl As if the sun were not;—he lifted high His head—and in a moment did appear Large space, mid dreadful clouds, of purest sky, An’ azure orb—shield of Tranquillity, Invisible unlook’d-for minister Of providential goodness ever nigh!

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To ——— Those silver clouds collected round the sun His mid-day warmth abate not, seeming less To overshade than multiply his beams By soft reflection—grateful to the sky, To rocks, fields, woods. Nor doth our human sense Ask, for its pleasure, screen or canopy More ample than that time-dismantled Oak Spreads o’er this tuft of heath: which now, attired In the whole fulness of its bloom, affords As beautiful a couch as e’er on earth Was fashioned; whether by the hand of art That Eastern Sultan, amid flowers enwrought On silken tissue, might diffuse his limbs In languor; or, by Nature, for repose Of panting Wood-nymph weary of the chace. O Lady! fairer in thy Poet’s sight Than fairest spiritual Creature of the groves, Approach—and, thus invited, crown with rest The noon-tide hour:—though truly some there are Whose footsteps superstitiously avoid This venerable Tree; for, when the wind Blows keenly, it sends forth a creaking sound, Above the general roar of woods and crags; Distinctly heard from far—a doleful note As if (so Grecian shepherds would have deem’d) The Hamadryad, pent within, bewailed Some bitter wrong. Nor is it unbelieved, By ruder fancy, that a troubled Ghost Haunts this old Trunk; lamenting deeds of which

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138â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The flowery ground is conscious. But no wind Sweeps now along this elevated ridge; Not even a zephyr stirs;—the obnoxious Tree Is mute,—and, in his silence, would look down On thy reclining form with more delight Than his Coevals in the sheltered vale Seem to participate, the whilst they view Their own far-stretching arms and leafy heads Vividly pictured in some glassy pool, That, for a brief space, checks the hurrying stream!

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Sonnet on the detraction which followed the publication of a certain poem



See Milton’s Sonnet, beginning “A Book was writ of late called ‘Tetrachordon.’â•›”

A Book came forth of late called, “Peter Bell;” Not negligent the style;—the matter?—good . As aught that song records of Robin Hood; Or Roy, renowned through many a Scottish dell; But some (who brook these hacknied themes full well, Nor heat, at Tam o’ Shanter’s name, their blood) Wax’d wrath, and with foul claws, a harpy brood— On Bard and Hero clamorously fell. Heed not, wild Rover once through heath and glen Who mad’st at length the better life thy choice, Heed not such onset! nay, if praise of men To thee appear not an unmeaning voice, Lift up that grey-haired forehead, and rejoice In the just tribute of thy Poet’s pen!

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September, 1819 The sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields Are hung, as if with golden shields, Bright trophies of the sun! Like a fair sister of the sky, Unruffled doth the blue Lake lie, â•… WW’s first three lines are patterned after Milton’s sonnet.11.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 139 The Mountains looking on. And, sooth to say, yon vocal Grove Albeit uninspired by love, By love untaught to ring, May well afford to mortal ear An impulse more profoundly dear Than music of the Spring. For that from turbulence and heat Proceeds, from some uneasy seat In Nature’s struggling frame, Some region of impatient life; And jealousy, and quivering strife, Therein a portion claim. This, this is holy;—while I hear These vespers of another year, This hymn of thanks and praise, My spirit seems to mount above The anxieties of human love, And earth’s precarious days. But list!—though winter storms be nigh, Unchecked is that soft harmony: There lives Who can provide For all his creatures; and in Him, Even like the radiant Seraphim, These Choristers confide.

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Upon the Same Occasion Departing Summer hath assumed An aspect tenderly illumed, The gentlest look of Spring: That calls from yonder leafy shade Unfaded, yet prepared to fade, A timely caroling. No faint and hesitating trill, Such tribute as to Winter chill The lonely red-breast pays!

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140â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Clear, loud, and lively is the din, From social Warblers gathering in Their harvest of sweet lays. Nor doth the example fail to cheer Me conscious that my leaf is sear, And yellow on the bough:— Fall, rosy garlands, from my head! Ye myrtle wreaths, your fragrance shed Around a younger brow! Yet will I temperately rejoice; Wide is the range, and free the choice Of undiscordant themes; Which, haply, kindred souls may prize Not less than vernal extacies, And passion’s feverish dreams. For deathless powers to verse belong, And they like Demi-gods are strong On whom the Muses smile; But some their function have disclaimed, Best pleased with what is aptliest framed To enervate and defile. Not such the initiatory strains Committed to the silent plains In Britain’s earliest dawn; Trembled the groves, the stars grew pale, While all-too-daringly the veil Of Nature was withdrawn! Nor, such the spirit-stirring note When the live chords Alcæus smote, Inflamed by sense of wrong; Woe! woe to Tyrants! from the lyre Broke threateningly, in sparkles dire Of fierce vindictive song. And not unhallow’d was the page By winged Love inscrib’d, to assuage The pangs of vain pursuit;

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 141 Love listening while the Lesbian Maid With passion’s finest finger swayed Her own Æolian lute. O ye who patiently explore The wreck of Herculanean lore, What rapture could ye seize Some Theban fragment, or unroll One precious, tender-hearted scroll Of pure Simonides! That were, indeed, a genuine birth Of poesy; a bursting forth Of Genius from the dust: What Horace boasted to behold, What Maro loved, shall we enfold? Can haughty Time be just!

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To ——— with a selection from the poems of anne, countess of winchelsea; and extracts of similar character from other writers; the whole transcribed by a female friend

Lady! I rifled a Parnassian Cave (But seldom trod) of mildly-gleaming ore; And cull’d, from sundry beds, a lucid store Of genuine crystals, pure as those that pave The azure brooks where Dian joys to lave Her spotless limbs; and ventur’d to explore Dim shades—for reliques, upon Lethe’s shore, Cast up at random by the sullen wave. To female hands the treasures were resign’d; And lo this work!—a grotto bright and clear From stain or taint; in which thy blameless mind May feed on thoughts though pensive not austere; Or if thy deeper spirit be inclin’d To holy musing it may enter here. On the Death of His Late Majesty Ward of the Law!—dread Shadow of a King!

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142â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Whose Realm had dwindled to one stately room; Whose universe was gloom immers’d in gloom, Darkness as thick as Life o’er Life could fling, Yet haply cheered with some faint glimmering Of Faith and Hope; if thou by nature’s doom Gently hast sunk into the quiet tomb, Why should we bend in grief, to sorrow cling, When thankfulness were best?—Fresh-flowing tears, Or, where tears flow not, sigh succeeding sigh, Yield to such after-thought the sole reply Which justly it can claim. The Nation hears In this deep knell—silent for threescore years, An unexampled voice of awful memory!

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Oxford, May 30, 1820 Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth! In whose collegiate shelter England’s Flowers Expand—enjoying through their vernal hours The air of liberty, the light of truth; Much have ye suffered from Time’s gnawing tooth, Yet, O ye Spires of Oxford! Domes and Towers! Gardens and Groves! your presence overpowers The soberness of Reason; ’till, in sooth, Transformed, and rushing on a bold exchange, I slight my own beloved Cam, to range Where silver Isis leads my stripling feet; Pace the long avenue, or glide adown The stream-like windings of that glorious street, —An eager Novice robed in fluttering gown!

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Oxford, May 30, 1820 Shame on this faithless heart! that could allow Such transport—though but for a moment’s space: Not while—to aid the spirit of the place— The crescent moon cleaves with its glittering prow The clouds, or night-bird sings from shady bough; But in plain day-light:—She, too, at my side, Who, with her heart’s experience satisfied, Maintains inviolate its slightest vow.

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Shorter Poems (1807–1820)â•… 143 Sweet Fancy! other gifts must I receive; Proofs of a higher sovereignty I claim; Take from her brow the withering flowers of Eve, And to that brow Life’s morning wreath restore; Let her be comprehended in the frame Of these illusions, or they please no more.

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June, 1820 Fame tells of Groves—from England far away— Groves that inspire the Nightingale to trill And modulate, with subtle reach of skill Elsewhere unmatched, her ever-varying lay; Such bold report I venture to gainsay: For I have heard the choir of Richmond hill Chaunting with indefatigable bill; While I bethought me of a distant day; When, haply under shade of that same wood, And scarcely conscious of the dashing oars Plied steadily between those willowy shores, The sweet-souled Poet of the Seasons stood— Listening, and listening long, in rapturous mood, Ye heavenly Birds! to your Progenitors.

  “Wallachia is the country alluded to.” WW

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The Prelude (1824–1839) Book First Introduction, Childhood, and School-time O there is blessing in this gentle Breeze, A visitant that, while he fans my cheek, Doth seem half-conscious of the joy he brings From the green fields, and from yon azure sky. Whate’er his mission, the soft breeze can come To none more grateful than to me; escaped From the vast City, where I long have pined A discontented Sojourner—Now free, Free as a bird to settle where I will. What dwelling shall receive me? in what vale Shall be my harbour? underneath what grove Shall I take up my home? and what clear stream Shall with its murmur lull me into rest? The earth is all before me: with a heart Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty, I look about; and should the chosen guide Be nothing better than a wandering cloud, I cannot miss my way. I breathe again; Trances of thought and mountings of the heart Come fast upon me: it is shaken off, That burthen of my own unnatural self, The heavy weight of many a weary day Not mine, and such as were not made for me. Long months of peace (if such bold word accord With any promises of human life), Long months of ease and undisturbed delight Are mine in prospect; whither shall I turn, By road or pathway, or through trackless field, Up hill or down, or shall some floating thing Upon the River point me out my course? Dear Liberty! Yet what would it avail,

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  During the years 1824–1839, WW prepared his fourteen-book version of The Prelude for publication after his death. For the source of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see The Fourteen-Book “Prelude,” ed. W. J. B. Owen (1985).

The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 145 But for a gift that consecrates the joy? For I, methought, while the sweet breath of heaven Was blowing on my body, felt, within, A correspondent breeze, that gently moved With quickening virtue, but is now become A tempest, a redundant energy, Vexing its own creation. Thanks to both, And their congenial powers that, while they join In breaking up a long continued frost, Bring with them vernal promises, the hope Of active days urged on by flying hours; Days of sweet leisure taxed with patient thought Abstruse, nor wanting punctual service high, Matins and vespers, of harmonious verse! Thus far, O Friend! did I, not used to make A present joy the matter of a Song, Pour forth, that day, my soul in measured strains, That would not be forgotten, and are here Recorded:—to the open fields I told A prophecy:—poetic numbers came Spontaneously, to clothe in priestly robe A renovated Spirit singled out, Such hope was mine, for holy services: My own voice cheered me, and, far more, the mind’s Internal echo of the imperfect sound; To both I listened, drawing from them both A chearful confidence in things to come. Content, and not unwilling now to give A respite to this passion, I paced on With brisk and eager steps; and came at length To a green shady place where down I sate Beneath a tree, slackening my thoughts by choice, And settling into gentler happiness. ’Twas Autumn, and a clear and placid day, With warmth, as much as needed, from a sun Two hours declined towards the west, a day With silver clouds, and sunshine on the grass, And, in the sheltered and the sheltering grove, A perfect stillness. Many were the thoughts

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146â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Encouraged and dismissed, till choice was made Of a known Vale whither my feet should turn, Nor rest till they had reached the very door Of the one Cottage which methought I saw. No picture of mere memory ever looked So fair; and while upon the fancied scene I gazed with growing love, a higher power Than Fancy gave assurance of some work Of glory, there forthwith to be begun, Perhaps too there performed. Thus long I mused, Nor e’er lost sight of what I mused upon, Save where, amid the stately grove of Oaks, Now here—now there—an acorn, from its cup Dislodged, through sere leaves rustled, or at once To the bare earth dropped with a startling sound. From that soft couch I rose not, till the sun Had almost touched the horizon; casting then A backward glance upon the curling cloud Of city smoke, by distance ruralized, Keen as a Truant or a Fugitive, But as a Pilgrim resolute, I took, Even with the chance equipment of that hour, The road that pointed tow’rd the chosen Vale. It was a splendid evening: and my Soul Once more made trial of her strength, nor lacked Eolian visitations; but the harp Was soon defrauded, and the banded host Of harmony dispersed in straggling sounds; And lastly utter silence! “Be it so; Why think of any thing but present good?” So, like a Home-bound Labourer, I pursued My way, beneath the mellowing sun, that shed Mild influence; nor left in me one wish Again to bend the sabbath of that time To a servile yoke. What need of many words? A pleasant loitering journey, through three days Continued, brought me to my hermitage. I spare to tell of what ensued, the life In common things,—the endless store of things

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 147 Rare, or at least so seeming, every day Found all about me in one neighbourhood; The self-congratulation, and from morn To night unbroken cheerfulness serene. But speedily an earnest longing rose To brace myself to some determined aim, Reading or thinking; either to lay up New stores, or rescue from decay the old By timely interference: and therewith Came hopes still higher, that with outward life I might endue some airy phantasies That had been floating loose about for years; And to such Beings temperately deal forth The many feelings that oppressed my heart. That hope hath been discouraged; welcome light Dawns from the East, but dawns—to disappear And mock me with a sky that ripens not Into a steady morning: if my mind, Remembering the bold promise of the past, Would gladly grapple with some noble theme, Vain is her wish: where’er she turns, she finds Impediments from day to day renewed. And now it would content me to yield up Those lofty hopes awhile for present gifts Of humbler industry. But, O dear Friend! The Poet, gentle Creature as he is, Hath, like the Lover, his unruly times, His fits when he is neither sick nor well, Though no distress be near him but his own Unmanageable thoughts: his mind, best pleas’d While she, as duteous as the Mother Dove, Sits brooding, lives not always to that end, But, like the innocent Bird, hath goadings on That drive her, as in trouble, through the groves: With me is now such passion, to be blamed No otherwise than as it lasts too long. When, as becomes a Man who would prepare For such an arduous Work, I through myself Make rigorous inquisition, the report

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148â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Is often chearing; for I neither seem To lack that first great gift, the vital Soul, Nor general Truths, which are themselves a sort Of Elements and Agents, Under-powers, Subordinate helpers of the living Mind: Nor am I naked of external things, Forms, images, nor numerous other aids Of less regard, though won perhaps with toil, And needful to build up a Poet’s praise. Time, place, and manners do I seek, and these Are found in plenteous store, but no where such As may be singled out with steady choice: No little band of yet remembered names Whom I in perfect confidence might hope To summon back from lonesome banishment, And make them dwellers in the hearts of men Now living, or to live in future years. Sometimes the ambitious Power of choice, mistaking Proud spring-tide swellings for a regular sea, Will settle on some British theme, some old Romantic Tale by Milton left unsung: More often turning to some gentle place Within the groves of Chivalry, I pipe To Shepherd Swains, or seated, harp in hand, Amid reposing knights by a River side Or fountain, listen to the grave reports Of dire enchantments faced, and overcome By the strong mind, and Tales of warlike feats Where spear encountered spear, and sword with sword Fought, as if conscious of the blazonry That the shield bore, so glorious was the strife; Whence inspiration for a song that winds Through ever changing scenes of votive quest, Wrongs to redress, harmonious tribute paid To patient courage and unblemished truth, To firm devotion, zeal unquenchable, And Christian meekness hallowing faithful loves. Sometimes, more sternly moved, I would relate How vanquished Mithridates northward passed,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 149 And, hidden in the cloud of years, became Odin, the Father of a Race by whom Perished the Roman Empire; how the friends And followers of Sertorius, out of Spain Flying, found shelter in the Fortunate Isles; And left their usages, their arts, and laws To disappear by a slow gradual death; To dwindle and to perish, one by one, Starved in those narrow bounds: but not the soul Of Liberty, which fifteen hundred years Survived, and, when the European came With skill and power that might not be withstood, Did, like a pestilence, maintain its hold, And wasted down by glorious death that Race Of natural Heroes;—or I would record How, in tyrannic times, some high-souled Man, Unnamed among the chronicles of Kings, Suffered in silence for truth’s sake: or tell How that one Frenchman, through continued force Of meditation on the inhuman deeds Of those who conquered first the Indian isles, Went, single in his ministry, across The Ocean;—not to comfort the Oppressed, But, like a thirsty wind, to roam about, Withering the Oppressor:—how Gustavus sought Help at his need in Dalecarlia’s mines: How Wallace fought for Scotland, left the name Of Wallace to be found, like a wild flower, All over his dear Country, left the deeds Of Wallace, like a family of Ghosts, To people the steep rocks and river banks, Her natural sanctuaries, with a local soul Of independence and stern liberty. Sometimes it suits me better to invent A Tale from my own heart, more near akin To my own passions, and habitual thoughts, Some variegated Story, in the main Lofty, but the unsubstantial Structure melts Before the very sun that brightens it,

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150â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Mist into air dissolving! Then, a wish, My last and favourite aspiration, mounts, With yearning, tow’rds some philosophic Song Of Truth that cherishes our daily life; With meditations passionate, from deep Recesses in man’s heart, immortal verse Thoughtfully fitted to the Orphean lyre; But from this awful burthen I full soon Take refuge, and beguile myself with trust That mellower years will bring a riper mind And clearer insight. Thus my days are passed In contradiction; with no skill to part Vague longing, haply bred by want of power, From paramount impulse—not to be withstood; A timorous capacity from prudence; From circumspection, infinite delay. Humility and modest awe themselves Betray me, serving often for a cloke To a more subtile selfishness; that now Locks every function up in blank reserve, Now dupes me, trusting to an anxious eye That with intrusive restlessness beats off Simplicity, and self-presented truth. Ah! better far than this, to stray about Voluptuously, through fields and rural walks, And ask no record of the hours, resigned To vacant musing, unreproved neglect Of all things, and deliberate holiday: Far better never to have heard the name Of zeal and just ambition, than to live Baffled and plagued by a mind that every hour Turns recreant to her task, takes heart again, Then feels immediately some hollow thought Hang like an interdict upon her hopes. This is my lot; for either still I find Some imperfection in the chosen theme; Or see of absolute accomplishment Much wanting, so much wanting, in myself That I recoil and droop, and seek repose

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 151 In listlessness from vain perplexity; Unprofitably travelling toward the grave, Like a false Steward who hath much received, And renders nothing back. Was it for this That one, the fairest of all rivers, loved To blend his murmurs with my Nurse’s song; And, from his alder shades and rocky falls, And from his fords and shallows, sent a voice That flowed along my dreams? For this didst Thou, O Derwent! winding among grassy holms Where I was looking on, a Babe in arms, Make ceaseless music, that composed my thoughts To more than infant softness, giving me, Amid the fretful dwellings of mankind, A foretaste, a dim earnest, of the calm That Nature breathes among the hills and groves? When he had left the mountains, and received On his smooth breast the shadow of those Towers That yet survive, a shattered Monument Of feudal sway, the bright blue River passed Along the margin of our Terrace Walk; A tempting Playmate whom we dearly loved. O many a time have I, a five years’ Child, In a small mill-race severed from his stream, Made one long bathing of a summer’s day; Basked in the sun, and plunged, and basked again, Alternate all a summer’s day, or scoured The sandy fields, leaping through flow’ry groves Of yellow ragwort; or when rock and hill, The woods and distant Skiddaw’s lofty height, Were bronzed with deepest radiance, stood alone Beneath the sky, as if I had been born On Indian plains, and from my Mother’s hut Had run abroad in wantonness, to sport, A naked Savage, in the thunder shower. Fair seed-time had my soul, and I grew up Fostered alike by beauty and by fear; Much favoured in my birth-place, and no less’

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152â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In that beloved Vale to which erelong We were transplanted—there were we let loose For sports of wider range. Ere I had told Ten birth-days, when among the mountain slopes Frost, and the breath of frosty wind, had snapped The last autumnal Crocus, ’twas my joy, With store of Springes o’er my Shoulder slung, To range the open heights where woodcocks ran Along the smooth green turf. Through half the night, Scudding away from snare to snare, I plied That anxious visitation;—moon and stars Were shining o’er my head; I was alone, And seemed to be a trouble to the peace That dwelt among them. Sometimes it befel, In these night-wanderings, that a strong desire O’erpowered my better reason, and the Bird Which was the Captive of another’s toil Became my prey; and when the deed was done I heard, among the solitary hills, Low breathings coming after me, and sounds Of undistinguishable motion, steps Almost as silent as the turf they trod. Nor less, when Spring had warmed the cultured Vale, Roved we as plunderers where the Mother-bird Had in high places built her lodge; though mean Our object, and inglorious, yet the end Was not ignoble. Oh! when I have hung Above the Raven’s nest, by knots of grass And half-inch fissures in the slippery rock But ill-sustained; and almost (so it seemed) Suspended by the blast that blew amain, Shouldering the naked crag; Oh, at that time, While on the perilous ridge I hung alone, With what strange utterance did the loud dry wind Blow through my ears! the sky seemed not a sky Of earth, and with what motion moved the clouds! Dust as we are, the immortal Spirit grows Like harmony in music; there is a dark Inscrutable workmanship that reconciles

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 153 Discordant elements, makes them cling together In one society. How strange that all The terrors, pains, and early miseries, Regrets, vexations, lassitudes, interfused Within my mind, should e’er have borne a part, And that a needful part, in making up The calm existence that is mine when I Am worthy of myself! Praise to the end! Thanks to the means which Nature deigned to employ! Whether her fearless visitings or those That came with soft alarm like hurtless lightning Opening the peaceful clouds, or she would use Severer interventions, ministry More palpable, as best might suit her aim. One summer evening (led by her) I found A little Boat tied to a Willow-tree Within a rocky cave, its usual home. Strait I unloosed her chain, and, stepping in, Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice Of mountain-echoes did my Boat move on, Leaving behind her still, on either side, Small circles glittering idly in the moon, Until they melted all into one track Of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows (Proud of his skill) to reach a chosen point With an unswerving line, I fixed my view Upon the summit of a craggy ridge, The horizon’s utmost boundary; for above Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky. She was an elfin Pinnace; lustily I dipped my oars into the silent Lake; And, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat Went heaving through the Water like a swan: When, from behind that craggy Steep, till then The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, As if with voluntary power instinct, Upreared its head.—I struck, and struck again, And, growing still in stature, the grim Shape

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154â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Towered up between me and the stars, and still, For so it seemed, with purpose of its own And measured motion, like a living Thing Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned, And through the silent water stole my way Back to the Covert of the Willow-tree; There, in her mooring-place, I left my Bark,— And through the meadows homeward went, in grave And serious mood; but after I had seen That spectacle, for many days, my brain Worked with a dim and undetermined sense Of unknown modes of being; o’er my thoughts There hung a darkness, call it solitude Or blank desertion. No familiar Shapes Remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or Sky, no colours of green fields, But huge and mighty Forms, that do not live Like living men, moved slowly through the mind By day, and were a trouble to my dreams. Wisdom and Spirit of the Universe! Thou Soul that art the eternity of thought, That giv’st to forms and images a breath And everlasting Motion! not in vain, By day or star-light, thus from my first dawn Of Childhood didst thou intertwine for me The passions that build up our human Soul, Not with the mean and vulgar works of man, But with high objects, with enduring things, With life and nature, purifying thus The elements of feeling and of thought, And sanctifying, by such discipline, Both pain and fear; until we recognize A grandeur in the beatings of the heart. Nor was this fellowship vouchsafed to me With stinted kindness. In November days When vapours, rolling down the valley, made A lonely scene more lonesome; among woods At noon, and ’mid the calm of summer nights, When, by the margin of the trembling Lake,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 155 Beneath the gloomy hills homeward I went In solitude, such intercourse was mine: Mine was it, in the fields both day and night, And by the waters, all the summer long. —And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and visible for many a mile, The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom, I heeded not their summons;—happy time It was indeed for all of us; for me It was a time of rapture!—Clear and loud The village Clock toll’d six—I wheeled about, Proud and exulting like an untired horse That cares not for his home.—All shod with steel, We hissed along the polished ice, in games Confederate, imitative of the chase And woodland pleasures,—the resounding horn, The Pack loud-chiming and the hunted hare. So through the darkness and the cold we flew, And not a voice was idle: with the din Smitten, the precipices rang aloud; The leafless trees and every icy crag Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills Into the tumult sent an alien sound Of melancholy, not unnoticed while the stars, Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west The orange sky of evening died away. Not seldom from the uproar I retired Into a silent bay,—or sportively Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng To cut across the reflex of a star That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed Upon the glassy plain: and oftentimes, When we had given our bodies to the wind, And all the shadowy banks on either side Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still The rapid line of motion, then at once Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me—even as if the earth had rolled

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156â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With visible motion her diurnal round! Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep. Ye presences of Nature, in the sky, And on the earth! Ye visions of the hills! And Souls of lonely places! can I think A vulgar hope was yours when ye employed Such ministry, when ye, through many a year, Haunting me thus among my boyish sports, On caves and trees, upon the woods and hills, Impressed upon all forms the characters Of danger or desire; and thus did make The surface of the universal earth With triumph and delight, with hope and fear, Work like a sea? Not uselessly employed, Might I pursue this theme through every change Of exercise and play, to which the year Did summon us in his delightful round. —We were a noisy crew; the sun in heaven Beheld not vales more beautiful than ours, Nor saw a Band in happiness and joy Richer, or worthier of the ground they trod. I could record with no reluctant voice The woods of Autumn, and their hazel bowers With milk-white clusters hung; the rod and line, True symbol of hope’s foolishness, whose strong And unreproved enchantment led us on, By rocks and pools shut out from every star All the green summer, to forlorn cascades Among the windings hid of mountain brooks. —Unfading recollections! at this hour The heart is almost mine with which I felt, From some hill-top on sunny afternoons, The paper-Kite, high among fleecy clouds, Pull at her rein, like an impatient Courser; Or, from the meadows sent on gusty days, Beheld her breast the wind, then suddenly

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 157 Dashed headlong, and rejected by the storm. Ye lowly Cottages in which we dwelt, A ministration of your own was yours! Can I forget you, being as ye were So beautiful among the pleasant fields In which ye stood? or can I here forget The plain and seemly countenance with which Ye dealt out your plain Comforts? Yet had ye Delights and exultations of your own. Eager and never weary, we pursued Our home-amusements by the warm peat-fire At evening, when with pencil, and smooth slate In square divisions parcelled out, and all With crosses and with cyphers scribbled o’er, We schemed and puzzled, head opposed to head, In strife too humble to be named in verse; Or round the naked table, snow-white deal, Cherry, or maple, sate in close array, And to the Combat, Lu or Whist, led on A thick-ribbed Army, not as in the world Neglected and ungratefully thrown by Even for the very service they had wrought, But husbanded through many a long campaign. Uncouth assemblage was it, where no few Had changed their functions; some, plebeian cards Which Fate, beyond the promise of their birth, Had dignified, and called to represent The Persons of departed Pontentates. Oh, with what echoes on the board they fell! Ironic diamonds; Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, A congregation piteously akin! Cheap matter offered they to boyish wit, Those sooty Knaves, precipitated down With scoffs and taunts like Vulcan out of heaven; The paramount Ace, a moon in her eclipse, Queens gleaming through their Splendor’s last decay, And Monarchs surly at the wrongs sustained By royal visages. Meanwhile abroad Incessant rain was falling, or the frost

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158â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Raged bitterly, with keen and silent tooth; And, interrupting oft that eager game, From under Esthwaite’s splitting fields of ice The pent-up air, struggling to free itself, Gave out to meadow-grounds and hills, a loud Protracted yelling, like the noise of wolves Howling in Troops along the Bothnic Main. Nor, sedulous as I have been to trace How Nature by extrinsic passion first Peopled the mind with forms sublime or fair And made me love them, may I here omit How other pleasures have been mine, and joys Of subtler origin; how I have felt, Not seldom even in that tempestuous time, Those hallowed and pure motions of the sense Which seem, in their simplicity, to own An intellectual charm;—that calm delight Which, if I err not, surely must belong To those first-born affinities that fit Our new existence to existing things, And, in our dawn of being, constitute The bond of union between life and joy. Yes, I remember when the changeful earth And twice five summers on my mind had stamped The faces of the moving year, even then I held unconscious intercourse with beauty Old as creation, drinking in a pure Organic pleasure from the silver wreaths Of curling mist, or from the level plain Of waters, colored by impending clouds. The sands of Westmorland, the creeks and bays Of Cumbria’s rocky limits, they can tell How, when the Sea threw off his evening shade, And to the Shepherd’s hut on distant hills Sent welcome notice of the rising moon, How I have stood, to fancies such as these A Stranger, linking with the Spectacle No conscious memory of a kindred sight, And bringing with me no peculiar sense

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 159 Of quietness or peace, yet have I stood, Even while mine eye hath moved o’er many a league Of shining water, gathering, as it seemed, Through every hair-breadth in that field of light, New pleasure, like a bee among the flowers. Thus oft amid those fits of vulgar joy Which, through all seasons, on a Child’s pursuits Are prompt Attendants; ’mid that giddy bliss Which like a tempest works along the blood And is forgotten: even then I felt Gleams like the flashing of a shield,—the earth And common face of Nature spake to me Rememberable things; sometimes, ’tis true, By chance collisions and quaint accidents (Like those ill-sorted unions, work supposed Of evil-minded fairies), yet not vain Nor profitless, if haply they impressed Collateral objects and appearances, Albeit lifeless then, and doomed to sleep Until maturer seasons called them forth To impregnate and to elevate the mind. —And, if the vulgar joy by its own weight Wearied itself out of the memory, The scenes which were a witness of that joy Remained, in their substantial lineaments Depicted on the brain, and to the eye Were visible, a daily sight: and thus By the impressive discipline of fear, By pleasure and repeated happiness, So frequently repeated, and by force Of obscure feelings representative Of things forgotten; these same scenes so bright, So beautiful, so majestic in themselves, Though yet the day was distant, did become Habitually dear; and all their forms And changeful colours by invisible links Were fastened to the affections. I began My Story early, not misled, I trust,

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160â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth By an infirmity of love for days Disowned by memory, fancying flowers where none, Not even the sweetest, do or can survive For him at least whose dawning day they cheered; Nor will it seem to Thee, O Friend! so prompt In sympathy, that I have lengthened out, With fond and feeble tongue, a tedious tale. Meanwhile, my hope has been, that I might fetch Invigorating thoughts from former years; Might fix the wavering balance of my mind, And haply meet reproaches too, whose power May spur me on, in manhood now mature, To honorable toil. Yet should these hopes Prove vain, and thus should neither I be taught To understand myself, nor thou to know With better knowledge how the heart was framed Of him thou lovest, need I dread from thee Harsh judgments, if the Song be loth to quit Those recollected hours that have the charm Of visionary things, those lovely forms And sweet sensations that throw back our life, And almost make remotest infancy A visible scene, on which the sun is shining? One end at least hath been attained—my mind Hath been revived; and, if this genial mood Desert me not, forthwith shall be brought down Through later years the story of my life: The road lies plain before me,—’tis a theme Single, and of determined bounds; and hence I chuse it rather, at this time, than work Of ampler or more varied argument, Where I might be discomfited and lost; And certain hopes are with me that to thee This labour will be welcome, honoured Friend! Book Second School-time continued Thus far, O Friend! have we, though leaving much Unvisited, endeavoured to retrace

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 161 The simple ways in which my childhood walked, Those chiefly, that first led me to the love Of rivers, woods, and fields. The passion yet Was in its birth, sustained, as might befal, By nourishment that came unsought; for still, From week to week, from month to month, we lived A round of tumult. Duly were our games Prolonged in summer till the day-light failed; No chair remained before the doors, the bench And threshold steps were empty; fast asleep The Labourer, and the old Man who had sate, A later Lingerer, yet the revelry Continued, and the loud uproar; at last, When all the ground was dark, and twinkling stars Edged the black clouds, home and to bed we went, Feverish, with weary joints and beating minds. Ah! is there One who ever has been young Nor needs a warning voice to tame the pride Of intellect, and virtue’s self-esteem? One is there, though the wisest and the best Of all mankind, who covets not at times Union that cannot be; who would not give, If so he might, to duty and to truth The eagerness of infantine desire? A tranquillizing spirit presses now On my corporeal frame, so wide appears The vacancy between me and those days, Which yet have such self-presence in my mind, That, musing on them, often do I seem Two consciousnesses, conscious of myself And of some other Being. A rude mass Of native rock, left midway in the Square Of our small market Village, was the goal Or centre of these sports; and, when, returned After long absence, thither I repaired, Gone was the old grey stone, and in its place A smart Assembly-room usurped the ground That had been ours. There let the fiddle scream, And be ye happy! Yet, my Friends, I know

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162â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth That more than one of you will think with me Of those soft starry nights, and that old Dame From whom the Stone was named, who there had sate And watched her table with its huckster’s wares Assiduous, through the length of sixty years. —We ran a boisterous course, the year span round With giddy motion. But the time approached That brought with it a regular desire For calmer pleasures, when the winning forms Of Nature were collaterally attached To every scheme of holiday delight, And every boyish sport, less grateful else And languidly pursued. When summer came, Our pastime was, on bright half-holidays, To sweep along the plain of Windermere With rival oars; and the selected bourne Was now an Island musical with birds That sang and ceased not; now a sister isle, Beneath the oaks’ umbrageous covert, sown With lilies of the valley like a field; And now a third small island, where survived, In solitude, the ruins of a shrine Once to our Lady dedicate, and served Daily with chaunted rites. In such a race, So ended, disappointment could be none, Uneasiness, or pain, or jealousy; We rested in the Shade, all pleased alike, Conquered and Conqueror. Thus the pride of strength, And the vain-glory of superior skill, Were tempered, thus was gradually produced A quiet independence of the heart: And, to my Friend who knows me, I may add, Fearless of blame, that hence, for future days, Ensued a diffidence and modesty; And I was taught to feel, perhaps too much, The self-sufficing power of solitude. Our daily meals were frugal, Sabine fare! More than we wished we knew the blessing then

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 163 Of vigorous hunger—hence corporeal strength Unsapped by delicate viands; for, exclude A little weekly stipend, and we lived Through three divisions of the quartered year In pennyless poverty. But now, to school From the half-yearly holidays returned, We came with weightier purses, that sufficed To furnish treats more costly than the Dame Of the old grey stone, from her scanty board, supplied. Hence rustic dinners on the cool green ground, Or in the woods, or by a river side, Or shady fountains, while among the leaves Soft airs were stirring, and the mid-day sun Unfelt shone brightly round us in our joy. Nor is my aim neglected if I tell How sometimes, in the length of those half years, We from our funds drew largely—proud to curb, And eager to spur on, the gallopping Steed: And with the cautious Inn-keeper, whose Stud Supplied our want, we haply might employ Sly subterfuges, if the Adventure’s bound Were distant, some famed Temple where of yore The Druids worshipped, or the antique Walls Of that large Abbey which within the Vale Of Nightshade, to St Mary’s honour built, Stands yet, a mouldering Pile, with fractured arch, Belfry, and Images, and living Trees; A holy Scene!—Along the smooth green Turf Our Horses grazed:—to more than inland peace Left by the west wind sweeping overhead From a tumultuous ocean, trees and towers In that sequestered Valley may be seen Both silent and both motionless alike; Such the deep shelter that is there, and such The safeguard for repose and quietness. Our Steeds remounted, and the summons given, With whip and spur we through the Chauntry flew In uncouth race, and left the cross-legged Knight And the Stone-abbot, and that single Wren

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164â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Which one day sang so sweetly in the Nave Of the old Church, that, though from recent Showers The earth was comfortless, and, touched by faint Internal breezes, sobbings of the place And respirations, from the roofless walls The shuddering ivy dripped large drops, yet still So sweetly ’mid the gloom the invisible Bird Sang to herself, that there I could have made My dwelling-place, and lived for ever there To hear such music. Through the Walls we flew, And down the Valley, and, a circuit made In wantonness of heart, through rough and smooth We scampered homewards. Oh, ye rocks and streams, And that still Spirit shed from evening air! Even in this joyous time I sometimes felt Your presence, when with slackened step we breathed Along the sides of the steep hills, or when, Lighted by gleams of moonlight from the sea, We beat with thundering hoofs the level sand. Midway on long Winander’s Eastern shore, Within the crescent of a pleasant Bay, A Tavern stood, no homely-featured House, Primeval like its neighbouring Cottages; But ’twas a splendid place, the door beset With Chaises, Grooms, and Liveries,—and within Decanters, Glasses, and the blood-red Wine. In ancient times, or ere the Hall was built On the large Island, had this Dwelling been More worthy of a Poet’s love, a Hut Proud of its one bright fire and sycamore shade. But, though the rhymes were gone that once inscribed The threshold, and large golden characters Spread o’er the spangled sign-board had dislodged The old Lion, and usurped his place in slight And mockery of the rustic Painter’s hand, Yet to this hour the spot to me is dear With all its foolish pomp. The garden lay Upon a slope surmounted by the plain Of a small Bowling-green: beneath us stood

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 165 A grove, with gleams of water through the trees And over the tree-tops; nor did we want Refreshment, strawberries, and mellow cream. There, while through half an afternoon we played On the smooth platform, whether skill prevailed Or happy blunder triumphed, bursts of glee Made all the mountains ring. But ere night-fall, When in our pinnace we returned, at leisure Over the shadowy Lake, and to the beach Of some small Island steered our course with one, The Minstrel of our Troop, and left him there, And rowed off gently, while he blew his flute Alone upon the rock,—Oh then the calm And dead still water lay upon my mind Even with a weight of pleasure, and the sky, Never before so beautiful, sank down Into my heart, and held me like a dream! Thus were my sympathies enlarged, and thus Daily the common range of visible things Grew dear to me: already I began To love the sun; a boy I loved the sun, Not as I since have loved him, as a pledge And surety of our earthly life, a light Which we behold, and feel we are alive; Nor for his bounty to so many worlds, But for this cause, that I had seen him lay His beauty on the morning hills, had seen The western mountain touch his setting orb, In many a thoughtless hour, when, from excess Of happiness, my blood appear’d to flow For its own pleasure, and I breathed with joy; And from like feelings, humble though intense, To patriotic and domestic love Analogous, the moon to me was dear; For I would dream away my purposes, Standing to gaze upon her while she hung Midway between the hills, as if she knew No other region; but belonged to thee, Yea, appertained by a peculiar right

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166â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To thee, and thy grey huts, thou one dear Vale! Those incidental charms which first attached My heart to rural objects, day by day Grew weaker, and I hasten on to tell How Nature, intervenient till this time And secondary, now at length was sought For her own sake. But who shall parcel out His intellect, by geometric rules, Split like a province into round and square? Who knows the individual hour in which His habits were first sown, even as a seed? Who that shall point, as with a wand, and say, “This portion of the river of my mind Came from yon fountain”? Thou, my friend! art one More deeply read in thy own thoughts; to thee Science appears but what in truth she is, Not as our glory and our absolute boast, But as a succedaneum, and a prop To our infirmity. No officious slave Art thou of that false secondary power By which we multiply distinctions, then Deem that our puny boundaries are things That we perceive, and not that we have made. To thee, unblinded by these formal arts, The unity of all hath been revealed; And thou wilt doubt with me, less aptly skilled Than many are to range the faculties In scale and order, class the cabinet Of their sensations, and in voluble phrase Run through the history and birth of each As of a single independent thing. Hard task, vain hope, to analyse the mind, If each most obvious and particular thought, Not in a mystical and idle sense, But in the words of reason deeply weighed, Hath no beginning. Blest the infant Babe, (For with my best conjecture I would trace Our Being’s earthly progress) blest the Babe,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 167 Nursed in his Mother’s arms, who sinks to sleep Rocked on his Mother’s breast; who, when his soul Claims manifest kindred with a human soul, Drinks in the feelings of his Mother’s eye! For him, in one dear Presence, there exists A virtue which irradiates and exalts Objects through widest intercourse of sense. No outcast he, bewildered and depressed; Along his infant veins are interfused The gravitation and the filial bond Of nature that connect him with the world. Is there a flower to which he points with hand Too weak to gather it, already love Drawn from love’s purest earthly fount for him Hath beautified that flower; already shades Of pity cast from inward tenderness Do fall around him upon aught that bears Unsightly marks of violence or harm. Emphatically such a Being lives, Frail Creature as he is, helpless as frail, An inmate of this active universe. For feeling has to him imparted power That through the growing faculties of sense Doth, like an Agent of the one great Mind, Create, creator and receiver both, Working but in alliance with the works Which it beholds.—Such, verily, is the first Poetic spirit of our human life, By uniform control of after years In most abated or suppressed, in some, Through every change of growth and of decay, Preeminent till death. From early days, Beginning not long after that first time In which, a Babe, by intercourse of touch, I held mute dialogues with my Mother’s heart, I have endeavoured to display the means Whereby this infant sensibility, Great birth-right of our being, was in me

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168â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Augmented and sustained. Yet is a path More difficult before me, and I fear That, in its broken windings, we shall need The chamois’ sinews, and the eagle’s wing: For now a trouble came into my mind From unknown causes. I was left alone, Seeking the visible world, nor knowing why. The props of my affections were removed, And yet the building stood, as if sustained By its own spirit! All that I beheld Was dear, and hence to finer influxes The mind lay open, to a more exact And close communion. Many are our joys In youth, but Oh! what happiness to live When every hour brings palpable access Of knowledge, when all knowledge is delight, And sorrow is not there! The seasons came, And every season, wheresoe’er I moved, Unfolded transitory qualities Which, but for this most watchful power of love, Had been neglected, left a register Of permanent relations, else unknown. Hence life, and change, and beauty; solitude More active even than “best society,” Society made sweet as solitude By inward concords, silent, inobtrusive; And gentle agitations of the mind From manifold distinctions, difference Perceived in things where, to the unwatchful eye, No difference is, and hence, from the same source, Sublimer joy: for I would walk alone Under the quiet stars, and at that time Have felt whate’er there is of power in sound To breathe an elevated mood, by form Or Image unprofaned: and I would stand, If the night blackened with a coming storm, Beneath some rock, listening to notes that are The ghostly language of the ancient earth, Or make their dim abode in distant winds.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 169 Thence did I drink the visionary power; And deem not profitless those fleeting moods Of shadowy exultation: not for this, That they are kindred to our purer mind And intellectual life; but that the soul, Remembering how she felt, but what she felt Remembering not, retains an obscure sense Of possible sublimity, whereto With growing faculties she doth aspire, With faculties still growing, feeling still That, whatsoever point they gain, they yet Have something to pursue. And not alone ’Mid gloom and tumult, but no less ’mid fair And tranquil scenes, that universal power And fitness in the latent qualities And essences of things, by which the mind Is moved with feelings of delight, to me Came strengthened with a superadded soul, A virtue not its own.—My morning walks Were early;—oft before the hours of School I travelled round our little Lake, five miles Of pleasant wandering; happy time! more dear For this, that One was by my side, a Friend Then passionately loved; with heart how full Would he peruse these lines! for many years Have since flowed in between us, and, our minds Both silent to each other, at this time We live as if those hours had never been. Nor seldom did I lift our Cottage latch Far earlier, and ere one smoke-wreath had risen From human dwelling, or the thrush, high perched, Piped to the woods his shrill reveillè, sate Alone upon some jutting eminence At the first gleam of dawn-light, when the Vale, Yet slumbering, lay in utter solitude. How shall I seek the origin, where find Faith in the marvellous things which then I felt? Oft in those moments such a holy calm

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170â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Would overspread my soul, that bodily eyes Were utterly forgotten, and what I saw Appeared like something in myself, a dream, A prospect in the mind. ’Twere long to tell What spring and autumn, what the winter snows, And what the summer shade, what day and night, Evening and morning, sleep and waking thought, From sources inexhaustible, poured forth To feed the spirit of religious love, In which I walked with Nature. But let this Be not forgotten, that I still retained My first creative sensibility, That by the regular action of the world My soul was unsubdued. A plastic power Abode with me, a forming hand, at times Rebellious, acting in a devious mood, A local Spirit of his own, at war With general tendency, but, for the most, Subservient strictly to external things With which it communed. An auxiliar light Came from my mind which on the setting sun Bestowed new splendor; the melodious birds, The fluttering breezes, fountains that ran on Murmuring so sweetly in themselves, obeyed A like dominion; and the midnight storm Grew darker in the presence of my eye; Hence my obeisance, my devotion hence, And hence my transport. Nor should this, perchance, Pass unrecorded, that I still had loved The exercise and produce of a toil Than analytic industry to me More pleasing, and whose character I deem Is more poetic, as resembling more Creative agency. The Song would speak Of that interminable building reared By observation of affinities In objects where no brotherhood exists

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 171 To passive minds. My seventeenth year was come; And, whether from this habit rooted now So deeply in my mind, or from excess Of the great social principle of life Coercing all things into sympathy, To unorganic Natures were transferred My own enjoyments; or the Power of truth, Coming in revelation, did converse With things that really are; I, at this time, Saw blessings spread around me like a sea. Thus while the days flew by and years passed on, From Nature overflowing on my soul I had received so much, that every thought Was steeped in feeling; I was only then Contented when with bliss ineffable I felt the sentiment of Being spread O’er all that moves, and all that seemeth still; O’er all that, lost beyond the reach of thought And human knowledge, to the human eye Invisible, yet liveth to the heart; O’er all that leaps, and runs, and shouts, and sings, Or beats the gladsome air; o’er all that glides Beneath the wave, yea, in the wave itself, And mighty depth of waters. Wonder not If high the transport, great the joy I felt, Communing in this sort through earth and Heaven With every form of Creature, as it looked Towards the Uncreated with a countenance Of adoration, with an eye of love. One song they sang, and it was audible, Most audible, then, when the fleshly ear, O’ercome by humblest prelude of that strain, Forgot her functions and slept undisturbed. If this be error, and another faith Find easier access to the pious mind, Yet were I grossly destitute of all Those human sentiments that make this earth So dear, if I should fail with grateful voice To speak of you, Ye Mountains, and Ye Lakes,

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172â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And sounding Cataracts, Ye Mists and Winds That dwell among the Hills where I was born. If in my Youth I have been pure in heart, If, mingling with the world, I am content With my own modest pleasures, and have lived, With God and Nature communing, removed From little enmities and low desires, The gift is yours: if in these times of fear, This melancholy waste of hopes o’erthrown, If, ’mid indifference and apathy And wicked exultation, when good men, On every side, fall off, we know not how, To selfishness, disguised in gentle names Of peace and quiet and domestic love, Yet mingled, not unwillingly, with sneers On visionary minds; if, in this time Of dereliction and dismay, I yet Despair not of our Nature, but retain A more than Roman confidence, a faith That fails not, in all sorrow my support, The blessing of my life, the gift is yours, Ye Winds and sounding Cataracts, ’tis yours, Ye Mountains! thine, O Nature! Thou hast fed My lofty speculations; and in thee, For this uneasy heart of ours, I find A never-failing principle of joy And purest passion. Thou, my Friend! wert reared In the great City, ’mid far other scenes; But we, by different roads, at length have gained The self-same bourne. And for this cause to Thee I speak, unapprehensive of contempt, The insinuated scoff of coward tongues, And all that silent language which so oft, In conversation between Man and Man, Blots from the human countenance all trace Of beauty and of love. For Thou hast sought The truth in solitude, and, since the days That gave thee liberty, full long desired,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 173 To serve in Nature’s Temple, thou hast been The most assiduous of her Ministers, In many things my Brother, chiefly here In this our deep devotion. Fare Thee well! Health, and the quiet of a healthful mind, Attend Thee! seeking oft the haunts of Men, And yet more often living with thyself And for thyself, so haply shall thy days Be many, and a blessing to mankind.

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Book Third Residence at Cambridge It was a dreary Morning when the Wheels Rolled over a wide plain o’erhung with clouds, And nothing cheered our way till first we saw The long-roof’d Chapel of King’s College lift Turrets, and pinnacles in answering files Extended high above a dusky grove. Advancing, we espied upon the road A Student, clothed in Gown and tasselled Cap, Striding along, as if o’ertasked by Time Or covetous of exercise and air. He passed—nor was I Master of my eyes Till he was left an arrow’s flight behind. As near and nearer to the Spot we drew, It seemed to suck us in with an eddy’s force; Onward we drove beneath the Castle, caught, While crossing Magdalene Bridge, a glimpse of Cam, And at the Hoop alighted, famous Inn! My Spirit was up, my thoughts were full of hope; Some friends I had, acquaintances who there Seemed friends, poor simple School-boys! now hung round With honor and importance: in a world Of welcome faces up and down I roved; Questions, directions, warnings, and advice Flowed in upon me, from all sides; fresh day Of pride and pleasure! to myself I seemed A man of business and expence, and went

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174â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth From shop to shop, about my own affairs, To Tutor or to Tailor, as befel, From street to street, with loose and careless mind. I was the Dreamer, they the dream: I roamed Delighted through the motley spectacle; Gowns grave or gaudy, Doctors, Students, Streets, Courts, Cloisters, flocks of Churches, gateways, towers. Migration strange for a Stripling of the Hills, A Northern Villager! As if the change Had waited on some Fairy’s wand, at once Behold me rich in monies; and attired In splendid garb, with hose of silk, and hair Powdered like rimy trees, when frost is keen. My lordly dressing-gown, I pass it by, With other signs of manhood that supplied The lack of beard.— The weeks went roundly on With invitations, suppers, wine and fruit, Smooth housekeeping within, and all without Liberal, and suiting Gentleman’s array! The Evangelist St. John my Patron was; Three gothic Courts are his, and in the first Was my abiding-place, a nook obscure! Right underneath, the College Kitchens made A humming sound, less tuneable than bees, But hardly less industrious; with shrill notes Of sharp command and scolding intermixed. Near me hung Trinity’s loquacious Clock, Who never let the quarters, night or day, Slip by him unproclaimed, and told the hours Twice over, with a male and female voice. Her pealing Organ was my neighbour too; And from my pillow, looking forth by light Of moon or favoring stars, I could behold The Antechapel, where the Statue stood Of Newton, with his prism, and silent face: The marble index of a Mind for ever Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone. Of College labors, of the Lecturer’s room All studded round, as thick as chairs could stand,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 175 With loyal Students faithful to their books, Half-and-half Idlers, hardy Recusants, And honest Dunces—of important days, Examinations when the man was weighed As in a balance! of excessive hopes, Tremblings withal, and commendable fears; Small jealousies, and triumphs good or bad, Let others, that know more, speak as they know. Such glory was but little sought by me And little won. Yet, from the first crude days Of settling time in this untried abode, I was disturbed at times by prudent thoughts, Wishing to hope, without a hope; some fears About my future worldly maintenance; And, more than all, a strangeness in the mind, A feeling that I was not for that hour, Nor for that place. But wherefore be cast down? For (not to speak of Reason and her pure Reflective acts to fix the moral law Deep in the conscience; nor of Christian Hope Bowing her head before her Sister Faith As one far mightier), hither I had come, Bear witness, Truth, endowed with holy powers And faculties, whether to work or feel. Oft when the dazzling shew no longer new Had ceased to dazzle, ofttimes did I quit My Comrades, leave the Crowd, buildings and groves, And as I paced alone the level fields Far from those lovely sights and sounds sublime With which I had been conversant, the mind Drooped not, but there into herself returning With prompt rebound, seemed fresh as heretofore. At least I more distinctly recognized Her native instincts; let me dare to speak A higher language, say that now I felt What independent solaces were mine To mitigate the injurious sway of place Or circumstance, how far soever changed In youth, or to be changed in manhood’s prime;

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176â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Or, for the few who shall be called to look On the long shadows, in our evening years, Ordained Precursors to the night of death. As if awakened, summoned, roused, constrained, I looked for universal things, perused The common countenance of earth and sky; Earth no where unembellished by some trace Of that first paradise whence man was driven; And sky whose beauty and bounty are expressed By the proud name she bears, the name of heaven. I called on both to teach me what they might; Or, turning the mind in upon herself, Pored, watched, expected, listened, spread my thoughts And spread them with a wider creeping; felt Incumbencies more awful, visitings Of the Upholder, of the tranquil Soul That tolerates the indignities of Time; And, from his centre of eternity All finite motions overruling, lives In glory immutable. But peace!—enough Here to record I had ascended now To such community with highest truth. —A track pursuing, not untrod before, From strict analogies by thought supplied, Or consciousnesses not to be subdued, To every natural form, rock, fruit or flower, Even the loose stones that cover the high-way, I gave a moral life; I saw them feel, Or linked them to some feeling: the great mass Lay bedded in a quickening soul, and all That I beheld respired with inward meaning. Add, that whate’er of Terror or of Love Or Beauty, Nature’s daily face put on From transitory passion, unto this I was as sensitive as waters are To the sky’s influence: in a kindred mood Of passion, was obedient as a lute That waits upon the touches of the wind. Unknown, unthought of, yet I was most rich;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 177 I had a world about me; ’twas my own, I made it; for it only lived to me, And to the God who sees into the heart. Such sympathies, though rarely, were betrayed By outward gestures and by visible looks: Some called it madness—so, indeed, it was, If child-like fruitfulness in passing joy, If steady moods of thoughtfulness, matured To inspiration, sort with such a name; If prophecy be madness; if things viewed By Poets in old time, and higher up By the first men, earth’s first inhabitants, May in these tutored days no more be seen With undisordered sight. But, leaving this, It was no madness: for the bodily eye Amid my strongest workings evermore Was searching out the lines of difference As they lie hid in all external forms, Near or remote; minute or vast, an eye Which from a tree, a stone, a withered leaf, To the broad ocean, and the azure heavens Spangled with kindred multitudes of Stars, Could find no surface where its power might sleep; Which spake perpetual logic to my Soul, And by an unrelenting agency Did bind my feelings, even as in a chain. And here, O friend! have I retraced my life Up to an eminence, and told a tale Of matters which not falsely may be called The glory of my Youth. Of genius, power, Creation, and Divinity itself, I have been speaking, for my theme has been What passed within me. Not of outward things Done visibly for other minds; words, signs, Symbols, or actions, but of my own heart Have I been speaking, and my youthful mind. O Heavens! how awful is the might of Souls And what they do within themselves, while yet The yoke of earth is new to them, the world

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 179 A congregation in its budding-time Of health and hope and beauty; all at once So many divers samples from the growth Of life’s sweet season; could have seen unmoved That miscellaneous garland of wild flowers Decking the matron temples of a Place So famous through the world? To me at least It was a goodly prospect: for, in sooth, Though I had learnt betimes to stand unpropped, And independent musings pleased me so, That spells seemed on me when I was alone; Yet could I only cleave to Solitude In lonely places; if a throng was near, That way I leaned by nature; for my heart Was social, and loved idleness and joy. Not seeking those who might participate My deeper pleasures (nay, I had not once, Though not unused to mutter lonesome songs, Even with myself divided such delight, Or looked that way for aught that might be clothed In human language), easily I passed From the remembrances of better things, And slipped into the ordinary works Of careless youth, unburdened, unalarmed. Caverns there were within my mind, which sun Could never penetrate, yet did there not Want store of leafy arbours where the light Might enter in at will. Companionships, Friendships, acquaintances, were welcome all; We sauntered, played, or rioted, we talked Unprofitable talk at morning hours, Drifted about along the streets and walks, Read lazily in trivial books, went forth To gallop through the Country in blind zeal Of senseless horsemanship, or on the breast Of Cam sailed boisterously, and let the stars Come forth, perhaps without one quiet thought. Such was the tenor of the second act In this new life. Imagination slept,

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180â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And yet not utterly: I could not print Ground where the grass had yielded to the steps Of generations of illustrious men, Unmoved; I could not always lightly pass Through the same gateways, sleep where they had slept, Wake where they waked, range that inclosure old, That garden of great intellects, undisturbed. Place also by the side of this dark sense Of nobler feeling, that those spiritual men, Even the great Newton’s own etherial Self, Seemed humbled in these precincts, thence to be The more endeared. Their several Memories here (Even like their Persons in their portraits, clothed With the accustomed garb of daily life) Put on a lowly and a touching grace Of more distinct humanity, that left All genuine admiration unimpaired. —Beside the pleasant Mill of Trompington I laughed with Chaucer, in the hawthorn shade Heard him, while birds were warbling, tell his tales Of amorous passion. And that gentle Bard, Chosen by the Muses for their Page of State, Sweet Spenser, moving through his clouded Heaven With the Moon’s beauty and the Moon’s soft pace, I called him Brother, Englishman, and Friend! Yea, our blind Poet, who, in his later day, Stood almost single, uttering odious truth, Darkness before and danger’s voice behind; Soul awful—if the earth hath ever lodged An awful Soul, I seemed to see him here Familiarly, and in his Scholar’s dress Bounding before me, yet a Stripling Youth, A Boy, no better, with his rosy cheeks Angelical, keen eye, courageous look, And conscious step of purity and pride. Among the Band of my Compeers was One Whom Chance had stationed in the very Room Honored by Milton’s Name. O temperate Bard! Be it confest that, for the first time, seated

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 181 Within thy innocent Lodge and Oratory, One of a festive Circle, I poured out Libations, to thy memory drank, till pride And gratitude grew dizzy in a brain Never excited by the fumes of wine Before that hour, or since. Forth I ran, From that assembly through a length of streets Ran, Ostrich-like, to reach our Chapel door In not a desperate or opprobrious time, Albeit long after the importunate bell Had stopped, with wearisome Cassandra voice No longer haunting the dark winter night. Call back, O Friend! a moment to thy mind The place itself, and fashion of the Rites. With careless ostentation shouldering up My Surplice, through the inferior throng I clove Of the plain Burghers, who in audience stood On the last skirts of their permitted ground Under the pealing Organ. Empty thoughts! I am ashamed of them: and that great Bard And Thou, O friend! who in thy ample mind Hast placed me high above my best deserts, Ye will forgive the weakness of that hour, In some of its unworthy vanities Brother to many more. In this mixed sort The months passed on, remissly, not given up To wilful alienation from the right, Or walks of open scandal, but in vague And loose indifference, easy likings, aims Of a low pitch,—duty and zeal dismissed, Yet Nature, or a happy course of things, Not doing, in their stead, the needful work. The memory languidly revolved, the heart Reposed in noontide rest; the inner pulse Of contemplation almost failed to beat. Such life might not inaptly be compared To a floating island, an amphibious Spot Unsound, of spungy texture, yet withal

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182â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Not wanting a fair face of water weeds And pleasant flowers.— The thirst of living praise, Fit reverence for the glorious Dead, the Sight Of those long Vistos, sacred Catacombs Where mighty minds lie visibly entombed, Have often stirred the heart of Youth, and bred A fervent love of rigorous discipline. Alas! such high emotion touched not me; Look was there none within these walls to shame My easy spirits, and discountenance Their light composure, far less to instil A calm resolve of mind, firmly addressed To puissant efforts. Nor was this the blame Of others, but my own: I should, in truth, As far as doth concern my single self, Misdeem most widely, lodging it elsewhere.— For I, bred up ’mid Nature’s luxuries, Was a spoiled Child; and rambling like the wind, As I had done in daily intercourse With those crystalline Rivers, solemn heights And mountains;—ranging like a fowl of the air, I was ill-tutored for captivity, To quit my pleasure, and from month to month Take up a station calmly on the perch Of sedentary peace. Those lovely forms Had also left less space within my mind, Which, wrought upon instinctively, had found A freshness in those objects of her love, A winning power, beyond all other power. Not that I slighted Books—that were to lack All sense—but other passions in me ruled, Passions more fervent, making me less prompt To in-door study than was wise or well, Or suited to those years. Yet I, though used In magisterial liberty to rove— Culling such flowers of Learning as might tempt A random choice—could shadow forth a Place (If now I yield not to a flattering dream) Whose studious aspect should have bent me down

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 183 To instantaneous service, should at once Have made me pay to science and to arts, And written lore, acknowledged my liege lord, A homage frankly offered up, like that Which I had paid to Nature. Toil and pains, In this Recess by thoughtful Fancy built, Should spread from heart to heart; and stately groves, Majestic edifices, should not want A corresponding dignity within. The congregating temper, that pervades Our unripe years, not wasted, should be taught To minister to works of high attempt, Works which the enthusiast would perform with love. Youth should be awed, religiously possessed With a conviction of the power that waits On knowledge, when sincerely sought and prized For its own sake, on glory and on praise If but by labor won, and fit to endure. The passing day should learn to put aside Her trappings here, should strip them off abashed Before antiquity and stedfast truth And strong book-mindedness; and over all A healthy sound simplicity should reign, A seemly plainness, name it what you will, Republican or pious. If these thoughts Are a gratuitous emblazonry That mocks the recreant age we live in, then Be Folly and False-seeming free to affect Whatever formal gait of discipline Shall raise them highest in their own esteem; Let them parade among the Schools at will; But spare the house of God. Was ever known The witless Shepherd who persists to drive A flock that thirsts not to a pool disliked? A weight must surely hang on days begun And ended with such mockery. Be wise, Ye Presidents, and Deans, and till the spirit Of ancient Times revive, and Youth be trained

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184â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth At home in pious service, to your bells Give seasonable rest, for ’tis a sound Hollow as ever vexed the tranquil air; And your officious doings bring disgrace On the plain Steeples of our English Church, Whose worship, ’mid remotest Village trees, Suffers for this. Even Science, too, at hand, In daily sight of this irreverence, Is smitten thence with an unnatural taint, Loses her just authority, falls beneath Collateral suspicion, else unknown. This truth escaped me not, and I confess That, having ’mid my native hills given loose To a school-boy’s vision, I had raised a pile Upon the basis of the coming time, That fell in ruins round me. Oh! what joy To see a Sanctuary for our Country’s Youth, Informed with such a spirit as might be Its own protection; a primeval grove Where, though the shades with chearfulness were filled, Nor indigent of songs warbled from crowds In under-coverts, yet the countenance Of the whole Place should wear a stamp of awe: A habitation sober and demure For ruminating Creatures; a domain For quiet things to wander in; a haunt In which the heron should delight to feed By the shy rivers, and the Pelican Upon the Cypress spire in lonely thought Might sit and sun himself. Alas! Alas! In vain for such solemnity I looked; Mine eyes were crossed by butterflies, ears vexed By chattering Popinjays; the inner heart Seemed trivial, and the impresses without Of a too gaudy region. Different sight Those venerable Doctors saw of old, When all who dwelt within these famous Walls Led in abstemiousness a studious life:

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 185 When, in forlorn and naked chambers, cooped And crowded, o’er their ponderous books they hung, Like catterpillers eating out their way In silence, or with keen devouring noise Not to be tracked or fathered. Princes then At matins froze, and couched at curfew-time, Trained up through piety and zeal to prize Spare diet, patient labor, and plain weeds. O Seat of Arts! renowned throughout the world! Far different service in those homely days The Muses’ modest Nurslings underwent From their first childhood: in that glorious time When Learning, like a Stranger come from far, Sounding through Christian lands her Trumpet, roused Peasant and King, when Boys and Youths, the growth Of ragged villages and crazy huts, Forsook their homes; and, errant in the quest Of Patron, famous School, or friendly nook, Where, pensioned, they in shelter might sit down, From town to town, and through wide-scattered realms, Journeyed with ponderous folios in their hands; And often, starting from some covert place, Saluted the chance Comer in the road, Crying, “an obolus, a penny give To a poor Scholar”: when illustrious Men, Lovers of truth, by penury constrained, Bucer, Erasmus, or Melancthon, read Before the doors or windows of their cells By moonshine, through mere lack of taper light. But peace to vain regrets! we see but darkly Even when we look behind us; and best things Are not so pure by nature that they needs Must keep to all, as fondly all believe, Their highest promise. If the Mariner, When at reluctant distance he hath passed Some tempting Island, could but know the ills That must have fallen upon him, had he brought His bark to land upon the wished-for shore, Good cause would oft be his to thank the surf

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186â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Whose white belt scared him thence, or wind that blew Inexorably adverse! for myself I grieve not; happy is the gowned Youth Who only misses what I missed, who falls No lower than I fell. I did not love, Judging not ill perhaps, the timid course Of our scholastic studies, could have wished To see the river flow with ampler range And freer pace; but more, far more, I grieved To see displayed, among an eager few Who in the field of contest persevered, Passions unworthy of Youth’s generous heart And mounting spirit, pitiably repaid, When so disturbed, whatever palms are won. From these I turned to travel with the shoal Of more unthinking Natures—easy Minds And pillowy, yet not wanting love that makes The day pass lightly on, when foresight sleeps And wisdom, and the pledges interchanged With our own inner being are forgot. Yet was this deep vacation not given up To utter waste. Hitherto I had stood In my own mind remote from social life, At least from what we commonly so name, Like a lone shepherd on a promontory, Who, lacking occupation, looks far forth Into the boundless sea, and rather makes Than finds what he beholds. And sure it is That this first transit from the smooth delights And wild outlandish walks of simple Youth To something that resembled an approach Towards human business; to a privileged world Within a world, a midway residence With all its intervenient imagery, Did better suit my visionary mind, Far better, than to have been bolted forth, Thrust out abruptly into Fortune’s way, Among the conflicts of substantial life;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 187 By a more just gradation did lead on To higher things, more naturally matured, For permanent possession, better fruits, Whether of truth or virtue, to ensue. In serious mood, but oftener, I confess, With playful zest of fancy, did we note (How could we less?) the manners and the ways Of those who lived distinguished by the badge Of good or ill report; or those with whom, By frame of academic discipline, We were perforce connected, men whose sway And known authority of office served To set our minds on edge, and did no more. Nor wanted we rich pastime of this kind, Found every where; but chiefly in the ring Of the grave Elders—Men unscoured, grotesque In character; tricked out like aged trees Which, through the lapse of their infirmity, Give ready place to any random seed That chuses to be reared upon their trunks. Here, on my view, confronting vividly Those shepherd swains whom I had lately left, Appeared a different aspect of old age; How different! yet both distinctly marked, Objects embossed, to catch the general eye, Or portraitures for special use designed, As some might seem, so aptly do they serve To illustrate Nature’s book of rudiments, That book upheld as with maternal care When she would enter on her tender scheme Of teaching comprehension with delight And mingling playful with pathetic thoughts. The surfaces of artificial life And manners finely wrought, the delicate race Of colours, lurking, gleaming up and down Through that state arras woven with silk and gold; This wily interchange of snaky hues, Willingly or unwillingly revealed, I neither knew nor cared for; and, as such

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188â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Were wanting here, I took what might be found Of less elaborate fabric. At this day I smile in many a mountain Solitude, Conjuring up scenes as obsolete in freaks Of character, in points of wit as broad, As aught by wooden Images performed For entertainment of the gaping crowd At Wake or fair. And oftentimes do flit Remembrances before me of Old Men, Old Humorists who have been long in their graves, And, having almost in my mind put off Their human names, have into Phantoms passed Of texture midway between life and books. I play the Loiterer; ’tis enough to note That here, in dwarf proportions, were expressed The limbs of the great world, its eager strifes Collaterally pourtrayed, as in mock fight; A Tournament of blows, some hardly dealt Though short of mortal combat; and whate’er Might in this pageant be supposed to hit An artless rustic’s notice, this way less, More that way, was not wasted upon me. —And yet the spectacle may well demand A more substantial name, no mimic shew, Itself a living part of a live whole, A creek in the vast sea;—for all degrees And shapes of spurious fame and short-lived praise Here sate in state, and fed with daily alms Retainers won away from solid good; And here was Labor his own bondslave—Hope That never set the pains against the prize; Idleness, halting with his weary clog; And poor misguided Shame, and witless Fear, And simple Pleasure foraging for Death; Honor misplaced, and Dignity astray; Feuds, factions, flatteries, enmity, and guile; Murmuring Submission, and bald Government; The Idol weak as the Idolater; And Decency and Custom starving Truth;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 189 And blind Authority beating with his staff The Child that might have led him; Emptiness Followed as of good omen; and meek Worth Left to Herself, unheard of and unknown. Of these and other kindred notices I cannot say what portion is in truth The naked recollection of that time, And what may rather have been called to life By after-meditation. But delight, That, in an easy temper lulled asleep, Is still with innocence its own reward, This was not wanting. Carelessly I roamed As through a wide Museum, from whose stores A casual rarity is singled out, And has its brief perusal, then gives way To others, all supplanted in their turn; Till ’mid this crowded neighbourhood of things That are, by nature, most unneighbourly, The head turns round—and cannot right itself; And though an aching and a barren sense Of gay confusion still be uppermost, With few wise longings and but little love, Yet to the memory something cleaves at last, Whence profit may be drawn in times to come. Thus in submissive idleness, my Friend, The laboring time of Autumn, Winter, Spring, Eight months! rolled pleasingly away,—the ninth Came and returned me to my native hills.

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Book Fourth Summer Vacation Bright was the summer’s noon when quick’ning steps Followed each other till a dreary moor Was crossed, a bare ridge clomb, upon whose top Standing alone, as from a rampart’s edge I overlooked the bed of Windermere Like a vast river stretching in the sun! With exultation at my feet I saw Lake, islands, promontories, gleaming bays,

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190â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A universe of Nature’s fairest forms Proudly revealed with instantaneous burst, Magnificent and beautiful and gay. I bounded down the hill, shouting amain For the old Ferryman—to the shout the rocks Replied, and when the Charon of the flood Had staid his oars and touched the jutting pier I did not step into the well-known boat Without a cordial greeting. Thence, with speed Up the familiar hill I took my way Towards that sweet valley where I had been reared. ’Twas but a short hour’s walk ere, veering round, I saw the snow-white Church upon her hill Sit like a thronèd Lady, sending out A gracious look all over her domain. Yon azure smoke betrays the lurking Town; With eager footsteps I advance, and reach The Cottage threshold where my journey closed. Glad welcome had I, with some tears, perhaps, From my old Dame, so kind, and motherly! While she perused me with a Parent’s pride. The thoughts of gratitude shall fall like dew Upon thy grave, good Creature! while my heart Can beat, never will I forget thy name. Heaven’s blessing be upon thee where thou liest, After thy innocent and busy stir In narrow cares, thy little daily growth Of calm enjoyments; after eighty years, And more than eighty, of untroubled life, Childless, yet by the strangers to thy blood Honored with little less than filial love. What joy was mine to see thee once again, Thee and thy dwelling; and a crowd of things About its narrow precincts, all beloved, And many of them seeming yet my own! Why should I speak of what a thousand hearts Have felt, and every man alive can guess? The rooms, the court, the garden were not left Long unsaluted, nor the sunny seat

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 191 Round the stone table, under the dark Pine, Friendly to studious or to festive hours; Nor that unruly Child, of mountain birth, The froward Brook—who, soon as he was boxed Within our Garden, found himself at once, As if by trick insidious and unkind, Stripped of his voice, and left to dimple down (Without an effort, and without a will) A channel pav’d by Man’s officious care. I looked at him and smiled, and smiled again, And, in the press of twenty thousand thoughts, “Ha!” quoth I, “pretty Prisoner, are you there?” Well might sarcastic Fancy then have whispered, “An emblem here behold of thy own life In its late course of even days, with all Their smooth enthralment”—but the heart was full, Too full for that reproach. My aged Dame Walked proudly at my side; She guided me, I willing, nay—nay—wishing to be led. —The face of every neighbour whom I met Was like a volume to me; some were hailed Upon the road—some, busy at their work; Unceremonious greetings, interchanged With half the length of a long field between. Among my Schoolfellows I scattered round Like recognitions, but with some constraint Attended, doubtless from a little pride, But with more shame, for my habiliments, The transformation wrought by gay attire. Not less delighted did I take my place At our domestic table; and, dear Friend! In this endeavour simply to relate A Poet’s history, may I leave untold The thankfulness with which I laid me down In my accustomed bed, more welcome now, Perhaps, than if it had been more desired, Or been more often thought of with regret?— That lowly bed, whence I had heard the wind Roar, and the rain beat hard; where I so oft

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192â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Had lain awake, on summer nights, to watch The moon in splendor couched among the leaves Of a tall Ash, that near our Cottage stood; Had watched her with fixed eyes while to and fro, In the dark summit of the waving tree, She rocked, with every impulse of the breeze. Among the favorites whom it pleased me well To see again, was one, by ancient right Our Inmate, a rough terrier of the hills, By birth and call of nature pre-ordained To hunt the badger, and unearth the fox, Among the impervious crags; but having been From youth our own adopted, he had passed Into a gentler service. And when first The boyish spirit flagged, and day by day Along my veins I kindled with the stir, The fermentation and the vernal heat Of poesy, affecting private shades Like a sick lover, then this Dog was used To watch me, an attendant and a friend Obsequious to my steps, early and late, Though often of such dilatory walk Tired, and uneasy at the halts I made. A hundred times when, roving high and low, I have been harrassed with the toil of verse, Much pains and little progress, and at once Some lovely Image in the Song rose up Full-formed, like Venus rising from the Sea; Then have I darted forwards and let loose My hand upon his back, with stormy joy; Caressing him again, and yet again. And when at evening on the public Way I sauntered, like a river murmuring And talking to itself, when all things else Are still, the Creature trotted on before— Such was his custom; but whene’er he met A passenger approaching, he would turn To give me timely notice; and, straitway, Grateful for that admonishment, I hushed

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 193 My voice, composed my gait, and with the air And mien of one whose thoughts are free, advanced To give and take a greeting, that might save My name from piteous rumours, such as wait On men suspected to be crazed in brain. Those walks, well worthy to be prized and loved, Regretted! that word too was on my tongue, But they were richly laden with all good, And cannot be remembered but with thanks And gratitude, and perfect joy of heart; Those walks, in all their freshness, now came back, Like a returning Spring. When first I made Once more the circuit of our little Lake, If ever happiness hath lodged with man, That day consummate happiness was mine, Wide-spreading, steady, calm, contemplative. The sun was set, or setting, when I left Our cottage door, and evening soon brought on A sober hour,—not winning or serene, For cold and raw the air was, and untuned: But as a face we love is sweetest then When sorrow damps it; or, whatever look It chance to wear, is sweetest if the heart Have fulness in herself, even so with me It fared that evening. Gently did my Soul Put off her veil, and, self-transmuted, stood Naked, as in the presence of her God. While on I walked, a comfort seemed to touch A heart that had not been disconsolate; Strength came where weakness was not known to be, At least not felt; and restoration came, Like an intruder, knocking at the door Of unacknowledged weariness. I took The balance, and with firm hand weighed myself. —Of that external scene which round me lay Little, in this abstraction, did I see, Remembered less; but I had inward hopes And swellings of the Spirit: was rapt and soothed, Conversed with promises; had glimmering views

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194â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth How life pervades the undecaying mind, How the immortal Soul with God-like power Informs, creates, and thaws the deepest sleep That time can lay upon her; how on earth, Man, if he do but live within the light Of high endeavours, daily spreads abroad His being armed with strength that cannot fail. Nor was there want of milder thoughts, of love, Of innocence, and holiday repose; And more than pastoral quiet ’mid the stir Of boldest projects; and a peaceful end At last, or glorious, by endurance won. Thus musing, in a wood I sate me down, Alone, continuing there to muse; the slopes And heights, meanwhile, were slowly overspread With darkness; and before a rippling breeze The long lake lengthened out its hoary line: And in the sheltered coppice where I sate, Around me from among the hazel leaves, Now here, now there, moved by the straggling wind, Came ever and anon a breath-like sound, Quick as the pantings of the faithful Dog, The off and on Companion of my walk; And such, at times, believing them to be, I turned my head, to look if he were there; Then into solemn thought I passed once more. A freshness also found I at this time In human Life, the daily life of those Whose occupations really I loved. The peaceful scene oft filled me with surprize, Changed like a garden in the heat of Spring After an eight-days’ absence. For (to omit The things which were the same, and yet appeared Far otherwise) amid this rural Solitude, (A narrow Vale where each was known to all) ’Twas not indifferent, to a youthful mind, To mark some sheltering bower or sunny nook, Where an old Man had used to sit alone, Now vacant,—pale-faced Babes, whom I had left

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 195 In arms, now rosy Prattlers, at the feet Of a pleased Grandame, tottering up and down: And growing girls, whose beauty, filched away With all its pleasant promises, was gone To deck some slighted Playmate’s homely cheek. —Yes, I had something of a subtler sense, And often, looking round, was moved to smiles, Such as a delicate Work of humor breeds. I read, without design, the opinions, thoughts, Of those plain-living people, now observed With clearer knowledge; with another eye I saw the quiet Woodman in the woods, The Shepherd roam the hills. With new delight, This chiefly, did I note my gray-haired Dame, Saw her go forth to Church, or other work Of state, equipped in monumental trim, Short velvet cloak (her bonnet of the like), A mantle such as Spanish Cavaliers Wore in old time. Her smooth domestic life, Affectionate without disquietude, Her talk, her business, pleased me; and no less Her clear, though shallow, stream of piety, That ran on Sabbath days a fresher course. With thoughts, unfelt till now, I saw her read Her Bible, on hot Sunday afternoons; And loved the book, when she had dropped asleep And made of it a pillow for her head. Nor less do I remember to have felt, Distinctly manifested at this time, A human-heartedness about my love For objects, hitherto the absolute wealth Of my own private being, and no more; Which I had loved, even as a blessed Spirit, Or Angel, if he were to dwell on earth, Might love, in individual happiness. But now there opened on me other thoughts, Of change, congratulation, or regret— A pensive feeling! It spread far and wide; The trees, the mountains shared it, and the brooks;

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196â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The stars of heaven, now seen in their old haunts, White Sirius, glittering o’er the southern crags, Orion with his belt, and those fair Seven, Acquaintances of every little Child, And Jupiter, my own beloved Star! Whatever shadings of mortality, Whatever imports from the world of death Had come among these objects heretofore, Were, in the main, of mood less tender:—strong, Deep, gloomy were they, and severe; the scatterings Of awe, or tremulous dread, that had given way, In later youth, to yearnings of a love Enthusiastic, to delight and hope. As one who hangs down-bending from the side Of a slow-moving boat, upon the breast Of a still water, solacing himself With such discoveries as his eye can make, Beneath him, in the bottom of the deep, Sees many beauteous sights, weeds, fishes, flowers, Grots, pebbles, roots of trees, and fancies more; Yet often is perplexed, and cannot part The shadow from the substance, rocks and sky, Mountains and clouds reflected in the depth Of the clear flood, from things which there abide In their true Dwelling: now is crossed by gleam Of his own image, by a sun-beam now, And wavering motions, sent he knows not whence, Impediments that make his task more sweet— Such pleasant office have we long pursued, Incumbent o’er the surface of past time, With like success, nor often have appeared Shapes fairer, or less doubtfully discerned Than these to which the Tale, indulgent Friend! Would now direct thy notice. Yet in spite Of pleasure won and knowledge not withheld, There was an inner falling-off. I loved, Loved deeply, all that had been loved before, More deeply even than ever: but a swarm Of heady schemes, jostling each other, gawds,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 197 And feast, and dance, and public revelry; And sports, and games (too grateful in themselves, Yet in themselves less grateful, I believe, Than as they were a badge, glossy and fresh, Of manliness and freedom) all conspired To lure my mind from firm habitual quest Of feeding pleasures; to depress the zeal And damp those daily yearnings which had once been mine— A wild unworldly-minded youth, given up To his own eager thoughts. It would demand Some skill, and longer time than may be spared, To paint these vanities, and how they wrought In haunts where they, till now, had been unknown. It seemed the very garments that I wore Preyed on my strength, and stopped the quiet stream Of self-forgetfulness. Yes, that heartless chase Of trivial pleasures was a poor exchange For books and nature at that early age. ’Tis true some casual knowledge might be gained Of character or life; but at that time, Of manners put to School I took small note; And all my deeper passions lay elsewhere. Far better had it been to exalt the mind By solitary Study; to uphold Intense desire through meditative peace. And yet, for chastisement of these regrets, The memory of one particular hour Doth here rise up against me.—’Mid a throng Of Maids and Youths, old Men and Matrons staid, A medley of all tempers, I had passed The night in dancing, gaiety, and mirth; With din of instruments, and shuffling feet, And glancing forms, and tapers glittering, And unaimed prattle flying up and down— Spirits upon the stretch, and here and there Slight shocks of young love-liking interspersed, Whose transient pleasure mounted to the head, And tingled through the veins. Ere we retired

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198â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The cock had crowed; and now the eastern sky Was kindling, not unseen from humble copse And open field through which the pathway wound That homeward led my steps. Magnificent The Morning rose, in memorable pomp, Glorious as e’er I had beheld; in front The Sea lay laughing at a distance;—near, The solid mountains shone bright as the clouds, Grain-tinctured, drenched in empyrean light: And, in the meadows and the lower grounds, Was all the sweetness of a common dawn; Dews, vapours, and the melody of birds; And Labourers going forth to till the fields. Ah! need I say, dear Friend, that to the brim My heart was full: I made no vows, but vows Were then made for me; bond unknown to me Was given, that I should be, else sinning greatly, A dedicated Spirit. On I walked In thankful blessedness which yet survives. Strange rendezvous my mind was at that time, A party-colored shew of grave and gay, Solid and light, short-sighted and profound; Of inconsiderate habits and sedate, Consorting in one mansion, unreproved. The worth I knew of powers that I possessed, Though slighted and too oft misused. Besides, That summer, swarming as it did with thoughts Transient and idle, lacked not intervals When Folly from the frown of fleeting Time Shrunk, and the Mind experienced in herself Conformity as just as that of old To the end and written spirit of God’s works, Whether held forth in Nature or in Man, Through pregnant vision, separate or conjoined. When from our better selves we have too long Been parted by the hurrying world, and droop, Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, How gracious, how benign is Solitude! How potent a mere image of her sway!

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 199 Most potent when impressed upon the mind With an appropriate human centre—Hermit Deep in the bosom of the Wilderness; Votary (in vast Cathedral, where no foot Is treading and no other face is seen) Kneeling at prayer; or Watchman on the top Of Lighthouse beaten by Atlantic Waves; Or as the soul of that great Power is met Sometimes embodied on a public road, When, for the night deserted, it assumes A character of quiet more profound Than pathless Wastes. Once, when those summer Months Were flown, and Autumn brought its annual shew Of oars with oars contending, sails with sails, Upon Winander’s spacious breast, it chanced That—after I had left a flower-decked room (Whose in-door pastime, lighted-up, survived To a late hour) and spirits overwrought Were making night do penance for a day Spent in a round of strenuous idleness— My homeward course led up a long ascent Where the road’s watery surface, to the top Of that sharp rising, glittered to the moon And bore the semblance of another stream Stealing with silent lapse to join the brook That murmured in the Vale. All else was still; No living thing appeared in earth or air, And, save the flowing Water’s peaceful voice, Sound was there none: but lo! an uncouth shape Shewn by a sudden turning of the road, So near, that, slipping back into the shade Of a thick hawthorn, I could mark him well, Myself unseen. He was of stature tall, A span above man’s common measure tall, Stiff, lank, and upright;—a more meagre man Was never seen before by night or day. Long were his arms, pallid his hands;—his mouth Looked ghastly in the moonlight. From behind,

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200â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A mile-stone propped him; I could also ken That he was clothed in military garb, Though faded, yet entire. Companionless, No dog attending, by no staff sustained He stood; and in his very dress appeared A desolation, a simplicity To which the trappings of a gaudy world Make a strange background. From his lips erelong Issued low muttered sounds, as if of pain Or some uneasy thought; yet still his form Kept the same awful steadiness;—at his feet His shadow lay and moved not. From self-blame Not wholly free, I watched him thus; at length Subduing my heart’s specious cowardice, I left the shady nook where I had stood, And hailed him. Slowly, from his resting-place He rose; and, with a lean and wasted arm In measured gesture lifted to his head, Returned my salutation: then resumed His station as before; and when I asked His history, the Veteran, in reply, Was neither slow nor eager; but, unmoved, And with a quiet uncomplaining voice, A stately air of mild indifference, He told, in few plain words, a Soldier’s tale— That in the Tropic Islands he had served, Whence he had landed, scarcely three weeks past, That on his landing he had been dismissed, And now was travelling towards his native home. This heard, I said in pity, “Come with me.” He stooped, and straightway from the ground took up An oaken staff, by me yet unobserved— A staff which must have dropped from his slack hand And lay till now neglected in the grass. Though weak his step and cautious, he appeared To travel without pain, and I beheld, With an astonishment but ill suppressed, His ghastly figure moving at my side; Nor could I, while we journeyed thus, forbear

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 201 To turn from present hardships to the past, And speak of war, battle, and pestilence, Sprinkling this talk with questions, better spared, On what he might himself have seen or felt. He all the while was in demeanour calm, Concise in answer; solemn and sublime He might have seemed, but that in all he said There was a strange half-absence, as of one Knowing too well the importance of his theme, But feeling it no longer. Our discourse Soon ended, and together on we passed, In silence, through a wood, gloomy and still. Up-turning then along an open field, We reached a Cottage. At the door I knocked, And earnestly to charitable care Commended him, as a poor friendless Man Belated, and by sickness overcome. Assured that now the Traveller would repose In comfort, I entreated, that henceforth He would not linger in the public ways, But ask for timely furtherance and help, Such as his state required.—At this reproof, With the same ghastly mildness in his look, He said, “My trust is in the God of Heaven, And in the eye of him who passes me.” The Cottage door was speedily unbarred, And now the Soldier touched his hat once more With his lean hand; and, in a faltering voice Whose tone bespake reviving interests Till then unfelt, he thanked me; I returned The farewell blessing of the patient Man, And so we parted. Back I cast a look, And lingered near the door a little space; Then sought with quiet heart my distant home. This passed, and He who deigns to mark with care By what rules governed, with what end in view This Work proceeds, he will not wish for more.

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202â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Book Fifth Books When Contemplation, like the night-calm felt Through earth and sky, spreads widely, and sends deep Into the Soul its tranquillizing power, Even then I sometimes grieve for thee, O Man, Earth’s paramount Creature! not so much for woes That thou endurest; heavy though that weight be, Cloud-like it mounts, or touched with light divine Doth melt away; but for those palms achieved Through length of time, by patient exercise Of study and hard thought—there, there it is That sadness finds its fuel. Hitherto, In progress through this Work, my mind hath looked Upon the speaking face of earth and heaven As her prime Teacher, intercourse with man Established by the sovereign Intellect Who through that bodily Image hath diffused, As might appear to the eye of fleeting Time, A deathless Spirit. Thou also, Man! hast wrought, For commerce of thy nature with herself, Things that aspire to unconquerable life: And yet we feel, we cannot chuse but feel That they must perish. Tremblings of the heart It gives, to think that our immortal being No more shall need such garments; and yet Man, As long as he shall be the Child of earth, Might almost “weep to have” what he may lose, Nor be himself extinguished; but survive Abject, depressed, forlorn, disconsolate. A thought is with me sometimes, and I say— Should the whole frame of earth by inward throes Be wrenched, or fire come down from far to scorch Her pleasant habitations, and dry up Old Ocean in his bed, left singed and bare, Yet would the living Presence still subsist Victorious; and composure would ensue, And kindlings like the morning—presage sure Of day returning, and of life revived.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 203 But all the meditations of mankind, Yea, all the adamantine holds of truth, By reason built, or passion, which itself Is highest reason in a soul sublime; The consecrated works of Bard and Sage, Sensuous or intellectual, wrought by men, Twin labourers, and heirs of the same hopes; Where would they be? Oh! why hath not the Mind Some element to stamp her image on In nature somewhat nearer to her own? Why, gifted with such powers to send abroad Her spirit, must it lodge in shrines so frail? One day, when from my lips a like complaint Had fallen in presence of a studious friend, He with a smile made answer that in truth ’Twas going far to seek disquietude, But, on the front of his reproof, confessed That he himself had oftentimes given way To kindred hauntings. Whereupon I told That once in the stillness of a summer’s noon, While I was seated in a rocky cave By the sea-side, perusing, so it chanced, The famous history of the errant Knight Recorded by Cervantes, these same thoughts Beset me, and to height unusual rose, While listlessly I sate, and, having closed The Book, had turned my eyes tow’rd the wide Sea. On Poetry, and geometric truth, And their high privilege of lasting life, From all internal injury exempt, I mused; upon these chiefly: and, at length, My senses yielding to the sultry air, Sleep seized me, and I passed into a dream. I saw before me stretched a boundless plain, Of sandy wilderness, all blank and void; And as I looked around, distress and fear Came creeping over me, when at my side, Close at my side, an uncouth Shape appeared Upon a Dromedary, mounted high.

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204â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth He seemed an Arab of the Bedouin Tribes: A Lance he bore, and underneath one arm A Stone; and, in the opposite hand, a Shell Of a surpassing brightness. At the sight Much I rejoiced, not doubting but a Guide Was present, one who with unerring skill Would through the desert lead me; and while yet I looked, and looked, self-questioned what this freight Which the New-comer carried through the Waste Could mean, the Arab told me that the Stone (To give it in the language of the Dream) Was Euclid’s Elements; “and this,” said he, “This other,” pointing to the Shell, “this book Is something of more worth”; and, at the word, Stretched forth the Shell, so beautiful in shape, In color so resplendent, with command That I should hold it to my ear. I did so,— And heard, that instant, in an unknown tongue, Which yet I understood, articulate sounds, A loud prophetic blast of harmony— An Ode, in passion uttered, which foretold Destruction to the Children of the Earth, By Deluge now at hand. No sooner ceased The Song than the Arab with calm look declared That all would come to pass, of which the voice Had given forewarning, and that he himself Was going then to bury those two Books: The One that held acquaintance with the stars, And wedded Soul to Soul in purest bond Of Reason, undisturbed by space or time: Th’other, that was a God, yea many Gods, Had voices more than all the winds, with power To exhilarate the Spirit, and to soothe, Through every clime, the heart of human kind. While this was uttering, strange as it may seem, I wondered not, although I plainly saw The One to be a Stone, the Other a Shell, Nor doubted once but that they both were Books; Having a perfect faith in all that passed.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 205 Far stronger now grew the desire I felt To cleave unto this Man; but when I prayed To share his enterprize, he hurried on, Reckless of me: I followed, not unseen, For oftentimes he cast a backward look, Grasping his twofold treasure. Lance in rest, He rode, I keeping pace with him; and now He to my fancy had become the Knight Whose tale Cervantes tells; yet not the Knight, But was an Arab of the desert, too, Of these was neither, and was both at once. His countenance, meanwhile, grew more disturbed, And looking backwards when he looked, mine eyes Saw, over half the wilderness diffused, A bed of glittering light: I asked the cause. “It is,” said he, “the waters of the Deep Gathering upon us”; quickening then the pace Of the unwieldy Creature he bestrode, He left me; I called after him aloud,— He heeded not; but with his twofold charge Still in his grasp, before me, full in view, Went hurrying o’er the illimitable Waste With the fleet waters of a drowning World In chase of him; whereat I waked in terror; And saw the Sea before me, and the Book, In which I had been reading, at my side. Full often, taking from the world of Sleep This Arab Phantom, which I thus beheld, This semi-Quixote, I to him have given A substance, fancied him a living man, A gentle Dweller in the desert, crazed By love and feeling, and internal thought Protracted among endless solitudes; Have shaped him, in the oppression of his brain, And so equipped, wandering upon this quest! Nor have I pitied him; but rather felt Reverence was due to a Being thus employed; And thought that, in the blind and awful lair Of such a madness, reason did lie couched.

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206â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Enow there are on earth to take in charge Their Wives, their Children, and their virgin Loves, Or whatsoever else the heart holds dear; Enow to stir for these;—yea, will I say, Contemplating in soberness the approach Of an event so dire, by signs, in earth Or heaven, made manifest,—that I could share That maniac’s fond anxiety, and go Upon like errand. Oftentimes, at least, Me hath such strong entrancement overcome, When I have held a volume in my hand, Poor earthly casket of immortal Verse, Shakespear, or Milton, Labourers divine! Great and benign, indeed, must be the power Of living Nature, which could thus so long Detain me from the best of other Guides And dearest Helpers left unthanked, unpraised. Even in the time of lisping Infancy, And later down, in prattling Childhood, even, While I was travelling back among those days, How could I ever play an Ingrate’s part? Once more should I have made those bowers resound, By intermingling strains of thankfulness With their own thoughtless melodies; at least, It might have well beseemed me to repeat Some simply fashioned tale, to tell again, In slender accents of sweet Verse, some tale That did bewitch me then, and soothes me now. O Friend! O Poet! Brother of my soul, Think not that I could pass along untouched By these remembrances. Yet wherefore speak? Why call upon a few weak words to say What is already written in the hearts Of all that breathe? what in the path of all Drops daily from the tongue of every Child, Wherever Man is found? The trickling tear Upon the cheek of listening Infancy Proclaims it, and the insuperable look That drinks as if it never could be full.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 207 That portion of my Story I shall leave There registered; whatever else of power Or pleasure, sown or fostered thus, may be Peculiar to myself, let that remain Where still it works, though hidden from all search, Among the depths of time. Yet is it just That here, in memory of all books which lay Their sure foundations in the heart of man, Whether by native prose, or numerous verse; That in the name of all inspired Souls, From Homer the great Thunderer, from the voice That roars along the bed of Jewish Song: And that more varied and elaborate, Those trumpet-tones of harmony that shake Our shores in England; from those loftiest notes Down to the low and wren-like warblings, made For Cottagers, and Spinners at the wheel, And sun-burnt Travellers resting their tired limbs, Stretched under way-side hedgerows, ballad tunes, Food for the hungry ears of little ones, And of old Men who have survived their joy; ’Tis just that in behalf of these, the Works, And of the men that framed them, whether known, Or sleeping nameless in their scattered graves, That I should here assert their rights, attest Their honours, and should, once for all, pronounce Their benediction: speak of them as Powers For ever to be hallowed; only less, For what we are and what we may become, Than Nature’s self, which is the breath of God; Or His pure Word by miracle revealed. Rarely, and with reluctance, would I stoop To transitory themes; yet I rejoice, And, by these thoughts admonished, will pour out Thanks with uplifted heart, that I was reared Safe from an evil which these days have laid Upon the Children of the Land, a pest That might have dried me up, body and soul. This Verse is dedicate to Nature’s self

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208â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And things that teach as Nature teaches: then Oh! where had been the Man, the Poet where, Where had we been, we two, beloved Friend? If in the season of unperilous choice, In lieu of wandering, as we did, through Tales Rich with indigenous produce, open ground Of Fancy, happy pastures ranged at will, We had been followed, hourly watched,—and noosed Each in his several melancholy walk, Stringed like a poor-man’s heifer, at its feed Led through the lanes in forlorn servitude; Or rather like a stallèd Ox debarred From touch of growing grass, that may not taste A flower, till it have yielded up its sweets A prelibation to the mower’s scythe. Behold the Parent Hen amid her Brood, Though fledged and feathered and well-pleased to part And straggle from her presence, still a Brood,— And she herself from the maternal bond Still undischarged; yet doth she little more Than move with them in tenderness and love, A centre to the circle which they make; And, now and then, alike from need of theirs, And call of her own natural appetites, She scratches, ransacks up the earth for food Which they partake at pleasure. Early died My honored Mother, she who was the heart And hinge of all our learnings and our loves; She left us destitute, and as we might Trooping together. Little suits it me To break upon the sabbath of her rest With any thought that looks at others’ blame; Nor would I praise her but in perfect love; Hence am I checked; but let me boldly say, In gratitude, and for the sake of truth, Unheard by her, that she, not falsely taught, Fetching her goodness rather from times past Than shaping novelties for times to come, Had no presumption, no such jealousy;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 209 Nor did by habit of her thoughts mistrust Our Nature, but had virtual faith that He Who fills the Mother’s breast with innocent milk, Doth also for our nobler part provide, Under His great correction and controul, As innocent instincts and as innocent food; Or draws for minds that are left free to trust In the simplicities of opening life Sweet honey out of spurned or dreaded weeds. This was her creed; and therefore she was pure From anxious fear of error or mishap, And evil,—overweeningly so called; Was not puffed up by false unnatural hopes; Nor selfish with unnecessary cares; Nor with impatience from the season asked More than its timely produce—rather loved The hours for what they are than from regards Glanced on their promises, in restless pride. Such was she—not from faculties more strong Than others have, but from the times, perhaps, And spot in which she lived, and through a grace Of modest meekness, simple-mindedness, A heart that found benignity and hope, Being itself benign. My drift, I fear, Is scarcely obvious; but, that Common sense May try this modern system by its fruits, Leave let me take to place before her sight A specimen pourtrayed with faithful hand. Full early trained to worship seemliness, This model of a Child is never known To mix in quarrels—that were far beneath His dignity; with gifts he bubbles o’er As generous as a fountain; selfishness May not come near him, nor the little throng Of flitting pleasures tempt him from his path; The wandering beggars propagate his name, Dumb creatures find him tender as a Nun; And natural or supernatural fear,

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210â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Unless it leap upon him in a dream, Touches him not. To enhance the wonder, see How arch his notices, how nice his sense Of the ridiculous; not blind is he To the broad follies of the licenced world; Yet innocent himself withal, though shrewd, And can read Lectures upon innocence. A miracle of scientific lore, Ships he can guide across the pathless sea, And tell you all their cunning;—he can read The inside of the earth, and spell the stars; He knows the policies of foreign Lands; Can string you names of districts, cities, towns, The whole world over, tight as beads of dew Upon a gossamer thread; he sifts, he weighs; All things are put to question; he must live Knowing that he grows wiser every day Or else not live at all, and seeing, too, Each little drop of wisdom as it falls Into the dimpling Cistern of his heart. For this unnatural growth the Trainer blame, Pity the Tree.—Poor human Vanity! Wert thou extinguished, little would be left Which he could truly love; but how escape? For, ever as a thought of purer birth Rises to lead him toward a better clime, Some Intermedler still is on the watch To drive him back, and pound him like a Stray Within the pinfold of his own conceit. Meanwhile old Grandame Earth is grieved to find The play-things which her love designed for him Unthought of: in their woodland beds the flowers Weep, and the river sides are all forlorn. Oh! give us once again the wishing-Cap Of Fortunatus, and the invisible Coat Of Jack the Giant-killer, Robin Hood, And Sabra in the Forest with St George! The Child, whose love is here, at least doth reap One precious gain, that he forgets himself.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 211 These mighty Workmen of our later age Who with a broad highway have overbridged The froward chaos of futurity, Tamed to their bidding; they who have the skill To manage books and things, and make them act On Infant minds as surely as the sun Deals with a flower; the Keepers of our Time, The Guides and Wardens of our faculties, Sages who in their prescience would control All accidents, and to the very road Which they have fashioned would confine us down Like engines; when will their presumption learn That in the unreasoning progress of the world A wiser Spirit is at work for us, A better eye than theirs, most prodigal Of blessings and most studious of our good, Even in what seem our most unfruitful hours? There was a Boy;—ye knew him well, Ye Cliffs And Islands of Winander!—many a time At evening, when the earliest stars began To move along the edges of the hills, Rising or setting, would he stand alone, Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake; And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls That they might answer him.—And they would shout Across the watery Vale, and shout again, Responsive to his call,—with quivering peals, And long halloos, and screams, and echoes loud Redoubled and redoubled; concourse wild Of jocund din! and when a lengthened pause Of silence came, and baffled his best skill, Then, sometimes, in that silence, while he hung Listening, a gentle shock of mild surprize Has carried far into his heart the voice Of mountain torrents; or the visible scene Would enter unawares into his mind

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212â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With all its solemn imagery, its rocks, Its woods, and that uncertain heaven, received Into the bosom of the steady lake. This Boy was taken from his Mates, and died In childhood, ere he was full twelve years old. Fair is the Spot, most beautiful the Vale Where he was born: the grassy Church-yard hangs Upon a slope above the Village School; And through that Church-yard when my way has led On summer evenings, I believe that there A long half-hour together I have stood Mute—looking at the grave in which he lies! Even now appears before the mind’s clear eye That self-same Village Church; I see her sit (The throned Lady whom erewhile we hailed) On her green hill, forgetful of this Boy Who slumbers at her feet, forgetful, too, Of all her silent neighbourhood of graves, And listening only to the gladsome sounds That, from the rural School ascending, play Beneath her, and about her. May she long Behold a race of Young Ones like to those With whom I herded! (easily, indeed, We might have fed upon a fatter soil Of Arts and Letters, but be that forgiven) A race of real children; not too wise, Too learned, or too good: but wanton, fresh, And bandied up and down by love and hate; Not unresentful where self-justified; Fierce, moody, patient, venturous, modest, shy; Mad at their sports like withered leaves in winds: Though doing wrong and suffering, and full oft Bending beneath our life’s mysterious weight Of pain, and doubt, and fear; yet yielding not In happiness to the happiest upon earth. Simplicity in habit, truth in speech, Be these the daily strengtheners of their minds! May books and nature be their early joy! And knowledge, rightly honored with that name,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 213 Knowledge not purchased by the loss of power! Well do I call to mind the very week When I was first entrusted to the care Of that sweet Valley; when its paths, its shores, And brooks were like a dream of novelty To my half-infant thoughts,—that very week, While I was roving up and down alone, Seeking I knew not what, I chanced to cross One of those open fields, which, shaped like ears, Make green peninsulas on Esthwaite’s lake. Twilight was coming on, yet, through the gloom, Appeared distinctly on the opposite shore A heap of garments, as if left by One Who might have there been bathing. Long I watched, But no one owned them; meanwhile, the calm Lake Grew dark, with all the shadows on its breast, And, now and then, a fish upleaping snapped The breathless stillness. The succeeding day, Those unclaimed garments, telling a plain tale, Drew to the spot an anxious Crowd; some looked In passive expectation from the shore, While from a boat others hung o’er the deep, Sounding with grappling irons and long poles. At last, the dead Man, ’mid that beauteous scene Of trees and hills and water, bolt upright Rose with his ghastly face: a spectre shape Of terror, yet no soul-debasing fear, Young as I was, a Child not nine years old, Possessed me; for my inner eye had seen Such sights before, among the shining streams Of fairey land, the forests of romance; Their spirit hallowed the sad spectacle With decoration and ideal grace; A dignity, a smoothness, like the works Of Grecian Art, and purest Poesy. A precious treasure I had long possessed, A little, yellow, canvas-covered book, A slender abstract of the Arabian tales; And, from companions in a new abode,

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214â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth When first I learnt that this dear prize of mine Was but a block hewn from a mighty quarry— That there were four large Volumes, laden all With kindred matter, ’twas to me, in truth, A promise scarcely earthly. Instantly, With one not richer than myself, I made A covenant that each should lay aside The monies he possessed, and hoard up more, Till our joint savings had amassed enough To make this Book our own. Through several months, In spite of all temptation, we preserved Religiously that vow, but firmness failed; Nor were we ever Masters of our wish. And when thereafter to my Father’s house The holidays returned me, there to find That golden store of books which I had left, What joy was mine! How often, in the course Of those glad respites, though a soft west wind Ruffled the waters to the Angler’s wish For a whole day together, have I lain Down by thy side, O Derwent, murmuring stream! On the hot stones, and in the glaring sun, And there have read, devouring as I read, Defrauding the day’s glory, desperate! Till, with a sudden bound of smart reproach, Such as an Idler deals with in his shame, I to the sport betook myself again. A gracious Spirit o’er this earth presides, And o’er the heart of man: invisibly It comes, to works of unreproved delight, And tendency benign, directing those Who care not, know not, think not what they do. The Tales that charm away the wakeful night In Araby,—romances, legends, penned For solace, by dim light of monkish lamps; Fictions, for Ladies of their Love, devised By youthful Squires; adventures endless, spun By the dismantled Warrior in old age Out of the bowels of those very schemes

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 215 In which his youth did first extravagate; These spread like day, and something in the shape Of these will live till man shall be no more. Dumb yearnings, hidden appetites are ours, And they must have their food; our childhood sits, Our simple childhood sits upon a throne That hath more power than all the elements. I guess not what this tells of Being past, Nor what it augurs of the life to come, But so it is; and, in that dubious hour, That twilight when we first begin to see This dawning earth, to recognize, expect; And, in the long probation that ensues, The time of trial, ere we learn to live In reconcilement with our stinted powers, To endure this state of meagre vassalage; Unwilling to forego, confess, submit, Uneasy and unsettled; yoke-fellows To custom, mettlesome, and not yet tamed And humbled down—Oh! then we feel, we feel, We know where we have friends.—Ye dreamers, then, Forgers of daring Tales! we bless you then, Impostors, drivellers, dotards, as the Ape Philosophy will call you; then we feel With what, and how great might ye are in league, Who make our wish our power, our thought a deed, An empire, a possession; ye whom time And seasons serve; all faculties,—to whom Earth crouches, the elements are potter’s clay, Space like a heaven filled up with Northern lights, Here, no where, there, and every where at once. Relinquishing this lofty eminence For ground, though humbler, not the less a tract Of the same isthmus which our Spirits cross In progress from their native Continent To earth and human life, the Song might dwell On that delightful time of growing Youth When craving for the marvellous gives way To strengthening love for things that we have seen;

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216â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth When sober truth and steady sympathies Offered to notice by less daring pens Take firmer hold of us; and words themselves Move us with conscious pleasure. I am sad At thought of raptures now for ever flown; Almost to tears I sometimes could be sad To think of, to read over, many a page, Poems withal of name, which at that time Did never fail to entrance me, and are now Dead in my eyes, dead as a Theatre Fresh emptied of Spectators. Twice five years, Or less, I might have seen, when first my mind With conscious pleasure opened to the charm Of words in tuneful order, found them sweet For their own sakes, a passion and a power; And phrases pleased me, chosen for delight, For pomp, or love. Oft in the public roads Yet unfrequented, while the morning light Was yellowing the hill-tops, I went abroad With a dear Friend, and for the better part Of two delightful hours we strolled along By the still borders of the misty Lake, Repeating favourite Verses with one voice, Or conning more,—as happy as the birds That round us chaunted. Well might we be glad, Lifted above the ground by airy fancies More bright than madness or the dreams of wine; And, though full oft the objects of our love Were false, and in their splendour overwrought, Yet was there, surely, then no vulgar power Working within us, nothing less, in truth, Than that most noble attribute of Man, Though yet untutored and inordinate, That wish for something loftier, more adorned, Than is the common aspect, daily garb Of human life. What wonder then, if sounds Of exultation echoed through the groves! For images, and sentiments, and words,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 217 And every thing encountered or pursued In that delicious world of poesy, Kept holiday; a never-ending shew, With music, incense, festival, and flowers! Here must we pause; this only let me add, From heart-experience, and in humblest sense Of modesty, that he, who, in his youth, A daily Wanderer among woods and fields, With living Nature hath been intimate, Not only in that raw unpractised time Is stirred to extasy, as others are, By glittering verse; but, further, doth receive, In measure only dealt out to himself, Knowledge and increase of enduring joy From the great Nature that exists in works Of mighty Poets. Visionary Power Attends the motions of the viewless winds Embodied in the mystery of words: There darkness makes abode, and all the host Of shadowy things work endless changes there, As in a mansion like their proper home. Even forms and substances are circumfused By that transparent veil with light divine; And, through the turnings intricate of verse, Present themselves as objects recognized, In flashes, and with glory not their own. Thus far a scanty record is deduced Of what lowed to Books in early life; Their later influence yet remains untold; But as this work was taking in my mind Proportions that seemed larger than had first Been meditated, I was indisposed To any further progress, at a time When these acknowledgments were left unpaid. Book Sixth Cambridge, and the Alps The leaves were fading, when to Esthwaite’s banks And the simplicities of Cottage life

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218â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth I bade farewell; and, one among the Youth Who, summoned by that season, reunite As scattered birds troop to the Fowler’s lure, Went back to Granta’s cloisters; not so prompt Or eager, though as gay and undepressed In mind, as when I thence had taken flight, A few short months before. I turned my face, Without repining, from the coves and heights Clothed in the sunshine of their withering fern; Quitted, not loth, the mild magnificence Of calmer Lakes, and louder streams;—and you, Frank-hearted Maids of rocky Cumberland, You, and your not unwelcome days of mirth, Relinquished, and your nights of revelry; And in my own unlovely Cell sate down In lightsome mood,—such privilege has youth That cannot take long-leave of pleasant thoughts. The bonds of indolent society Relaxing in their hold, henceforth I lived More to myself. Two winters may be passed Without a separate notice: many books Were skimmed, devoured, or studiously perused, But with no settled plan. I was detached Internally from academic cares; Yet independent study seemed a course Of hardy disobedience toward friends And kindred, proud rebellion and unkind. This spurious virtue,—rather let it bear A name it more deserves,—this cowardise Gave treacherous sanction to that over-love Of freedom, which encouraged me to turn From regulations even of my own, As from restraints and bonds. Yet who can tell, Who knows, what thus may have been gained both then And at a later season, or preserved; What love of Nature, what original strength Of contemplation, what intuitive truths, The deepest and the best, what keen research Unbiassed, unbewildered, and unawed?

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 219 The Poet’s soul was with me at that time, Sweet meditations, the still overflow Of present happiness, while future years Lacked not anticipations, tender dreams No few of which have since been realized; And some remain hopes for my future life. Four years and thirty, told this very week, Have I been now a Sojourner on earth, By sorrow not unsmitten, yet for me Life’s morning radiance hath not left the hills, Her dew is on the flowers. Those were the days Which also first emboldened me to trust With firmness, hitherto but lightly touched By such a daring thought, that I might leave Some monument behind me which pure hearts Should reverence. The instinctive humbleness, Maintained even by the very name and thought Of printed books and authorship, began To melt away: and further, the dread awe Of mighty names was softened down, and seemed Approachable, admitting fellowship Of modest sympathy. Such aspect now, Though not familiarly, my mind put on, Content to observe, to admire, and to enjoy. All winter long, whenever free to chuse, Did I by night frequent the College Groves And tributary Walks; the last and oft The only One who had been lingering there Through hours of silence; till the Porter’s bell, A punctual follower on the stroke of nine, Rang with its blunt unceremonious voice, Inexorable summons! Lofty Elms, Inviting shades of opportune recess, Bestowed composure on a neighbourhood Unpeaceful in itself. A single Tree, With sinuous trunk, boughs exquisitely wreathed, Grew there—an Ash which Winter for himself Decked as in pride, and with outlandish grace. Up from the ground, and almost to the top,

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220â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The trunk and every master branch were green With clustering ivy, and the lightsome twigs And outer spray profusely tipped with seeds That hung in yellow tassels, while the air Stirred them, not voiceless. Often have I stood Foot-bound, uplooking at this lovely Tree Beneath a frosty moon. The hemisphere Of magic fiction, verse of mine perchance May never tread, but scarcely Spenser’s Self Could have more tranquil visions in his Youth, Nor could more bright appearances create Of human Forms with superhuman powers, Than I beheld loitering on calm clear nights, Alone, beneath this fairy work of earth. On the vague Reading of a truant Youth ’Twere idle to descant. My inner judgment Not seldom differed from my taste in books As if it appertained to another mind. And yet the books which then I valued most Are dearest to me now; for, having scanned, Not heedlessly, the laws, and watched the forms Of nature, in that knowledge I possessed A standard, often usefully applied, Even when unconsciously, to things removed From a familiar sympathy.—In fine, I was a better judge of thoughts than words; Misled, in estimating words, not only By common inexperience of youth, But by the trade in classic niceties, The dangerous craft of culling term and phrase From languages that want the living voice To carry meaning to the natural heart; To tell us what is passion, what is truth, What reason, what simplicity and sense. Yet may we not entirely overlook The pleasure gathered from the rudiments Of geometric science. Though advanced In these enquiries, with regret I speak, No farther than the threshold, there I found

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 221 Both elevation and composed delight. With Indian awe and wonder, Ignorance pleased With its own struggles, did I meditate On the relation those abstractions bear To Nature’s laws, and by what process led Those immaterial Agents bowed their heads Duly to serve the mind of earth-born Man From star to star, from kindred sphere to sphere, From system on to system without end. More frequently from the same source I drew A pleasure quiet and profound, a sense Of permanent and universal sway And paramount belief: there recognized A type, for finite natures, of the one Supreme Existence, the surpassing life Which, to the boundaries of space and time, Of melancholy space and doleful time, Superior, and incapable of change, Nor touched by welterings of passion, is, And hath the name of God. Transcendent peace And silence did await upon these thoughts That were a frequent comfort to my youth. ’Tis told by One whom stormy waters threw With Fellow-sufferers, by the Shipwreck spared, Upon a desert Coast, that, having brought To land a single volume, saved by chance, A treatise of Geometry, he wont, Although of food and clothing destitute And beyond common wretchedness depressed, To part from Company, and take this Book (Then first a self-taught Pupil in its truths) To spots remote, and draw his diagrams With a long staff upon the sand, and thus Did oft beguile his sorrow, and almost Forget his feeling: so (if like effect From the same cause produced, ’mid outward things So different, may rightly be compared), So was it then with me, and so will be With Poets, ever. Mighty is the charm

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222â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of those abstractions to a mind beset With images, and haunted by herself; And specially delightful unto me Was that clear Synthesis, built up aloft So gracefully! even then when it appeared Not more than a mere play-thing, or a toy To sense embodied; not the thing it is In verity, an independent world Created out of pure Intelligence. Such dispositions then were mine, unearned By aught, I fear, of genuine desert, Mine, through heaven’s grace, and inborn aptitudes. And, not to leave the story of that time Imperfect, with these habits must be joined Moods melancholy, fits of spleen, that loved A pensive sky, sad days, and piping winds, The twilight more than dawn, autumn than Spring, A treasured and luxurious gloom, of choice And inclination mainly, and the mere Redundancy of Youth’s contentedness. — To time thus spent, add multitudes of hours Pilfered away, by what the Bard, who sang Of the Enchanter Indolence, hath called “Good-natured lounging,” and behold a map Of my Collegiate life,—far less intense Than Duty called for, or, without regard To Duty, might have sprung up of itself By change of accidents,—or even, to speak Without unkindness, in another place; Yet why take refuge in that plea?—the fault, This I repeat, was mine, mine be the blame. In summer, making quest for works of Art Or scenes renowned for beauty, I explored That Streamlet whose blue current works its way Between romantic Dovedale’s spiry rocks, Pryed into Yorkshire dales, or hidden tracts Of my own native region, and was blest Between these sundry wanderings with a joy Above all joys, that seemed another morn

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 223 Risen on mid noon; blest with the presence, Friend! Of that sole Sister, she who hath been long Dear to Thee also, thy true Friend, and mine, Now after separation desolate Restored to me, such absence that she seemed A gift then first bestowed. The varied banks Of Emont, hitherto unnamed in Song, And that monastic Castle ’mid tall trees Low-standing by the margin of the Stream, A mansion visited (as fame reports) By Sidney; where, in sight of our Helvellyn Or stormy Cross-fell, snatches he might pen Of his Arcadia, by fraternal love Inspired;—that River and those mouldering Towers Have seen us side by side when, having clomb The darksome windings of a broken stair, And crept along a ridge of fractured wall, Not without trembling, we in safety looked Forth through some gothic window’s open space, And gathered with one mind a rich reward From the far-stretching landscape, by the light Of morning beautified, or purple eve: Or, not less pleased, lay on some turret’s head, Catching from tufts of grass and hare-bell flowers Their faintest whisper, to the passing breeze Given out while mid-day heat oppressed the plains. —Another Maid there was, who also shed A gladness o’er that season, then to me, By her exulting outside look of Youth, And placid under countenance, first endeared; That other Spirit, Coleridge! who is now So near to us, that meek confiding Heart So reverenced by us both. O’er paths and fields In all that neighbourhood, through narrow lanes Of eglantine, and through the shady woods, And o’er the Border Beacon, and the Waste Of naked pools, and common crags that lay Exposed on the bare Fell, were scattered love, The spirit of pleasure, and Youth’s golden gleam.

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224â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth O Friend! we had not seen thee at that time; And yet a power is on me, and a strong Confusion, and I seem to plant thee there.— Far art Thou wandered now in search of health, And milder breezes, melancholy lot! But Thou art with us, with us in the past, The present, with us in the times to come: There is no grief, no sorrow, no despair, No languor, no dejection, no dismay, No absence scarcely can there be, for those Who love as we do. Speed thee well! divide With us thy pleasure; thy returning strength, Receive it daily as a joy of ours; Share with us thy fresh spirits, whether gift Of gales Etesian, or of tender thoughts. I too have been a Wanderer; but, alas! How different the fate of different Men! Though mutually unknown, yea nursed and reared As if in several elements, we were framed To bend at last to the same discipline, Predestined, if two Beings ever were, To seek the same delights, and have one health, One happiness. Throughout this Narrative, Else sooner ended, I have borne in mind For whom it registers the birth, and marks the growth, Of gentleness, simplicity, and truth, And joyous loves that hallow innocent days Of peace and self-command. Of rivers, fields, And groves, I speak to thee, my Friend: to thee Who, yet a liveried School-boy, in the depths Of the huge City, on the leaded roof Of that wide Edifice, thy School and home, Wert used to lie, and gaze upon the clouds Moving in heaven; or, of that pleasure tired, To shut thine eyes, and by internal light See trees, and meadows, and thy native Stream Far distant, thus beheld from year to year Of a long exile. Nor could I forget, In this late portion of my argument,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 225 That scarcely, as my term of pupilage Ceased, had I left those academic Bowers When Thou wert thither guided. From the heart Of London, and from cloisters there, thou cam’st, And didst sit down in temperance and peace, A rigorous Student. What a stormy course Then followed! Oh! it is a pang that calls For utterance, to think what easy change Of circumstances might to thee have spared A world of pain, ripened a thousand hopes For ever withered. Through this retrospect Of my Collegiate life, I still have had Thy after-sojourn in the self-same place Present before my eyes; have played with times And accidents as Children do with cards, Or as a Man, who, when his house is built, A frame locked up in wood and stone, doth still, As impotent fancy prompts, by his fire-side Rebuild it to his liking. I have thought Of Thee, thy learning, gorgeous eloquence, And all the strength and plumage of thy youth, Thy subtile speculations, toils abstruse Among the Schoolmen, and platonic forms Of wild ideal pageantry, shaped out From things well-matched or ill, and words for things, The self-created sustenance of a Mind Debarred from Nature’s living images, Compelled to be a life unto herself, And unrelentingly possessed by thirst Of greatness, love, and beauty. Not alone, Ah! surely not in singleness of heart, Should I have seen the light of evening fade From smooth Cam’s silent waters, had we met Even at that early time: needs must I trust In the belief that my maturer age, My calmer habits, and more steady voice, Would with an influence benign have soothed Or chased away the airy wretchedness That battened on thy youth. But thou hast trod,

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226â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In watchful meditation thou hast trod, A march of glory, which doth put to shame These vain regrets: health suffers in thee, else Such grief for Thee would be the weakest thought That ever harboured in the breast of man. A passing word erewhile did lightly touch On wanderings of my own, that now embraced, With livelier hope, a region wider far. When the third summer freed us from restraint, A youthful Friend, he too a Mountaineer, Not slow to share my wishes, took his staff, And, sallying forth, we journeyed, side by side, Bound to the distant Alps. A hardy slight Did this unprecedented course imply Of College studies and their set rewards; Nor had, in truth, the scheme been formed by me Without uneasy forethought of the pain, The censures, and ill-omening of those To whom my worldly interests were dear. But Nature then was Sovereign in my mind, And mighty Forms, seizing a youthful fancy, Had given a charter to irregular hopes. In any age of uneventful calm Among the Nations, surely would my heart Have been possessed by similar desire; But Europe at that time was thrilled with joy, France standing on the top of golden hours, And human nature seeming born again. Lightly equipped, and but a few brief looks Cast on the white cliffs of our native shore From the receding Vessel’s deck, we chanced To land at Calais on the very Eve Of that great federal Day; and there we saw, In a mean City, and among a few, How bright a face is worn when joy of one Is joy for tens of millions. Southward thence We held our way direct, through Hamlets, Towns, Gaudy with reliques of that Festival, Flowers left to wither on triumphal Arcs,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 227 And window-garlands. On the public roads, And, once, three days successively, through paths By which our toilsome journey was abridged, Among sequestered villages we walked, And found benevolence and blessedness Spread like a fragrance every where, when Spring Hath left no corner of the land untouched. Where Elms for many and many a league in files With their thin umbrage, on the stately roads Of that great Kingdom, rustled o’er our heads, For ever near us as we paced along; How sweet at such a time, with such delights On every side, in prime of youthful strength, To feed a Poet’s tender melancholy And fond conceit of sadness, with the sound Of undulations varying as might please The wind that swayed them! once, and more than once, Unhoused beneath the evening star we saw Dances of liberty, and, in late hours Of darkness, dances in the open air Deftly prolonged, though grey-haired lookers-on Might waste their breath in chiding. Under hills, The vine-clad hills and slopes of Burgundy, Upon the bosom of the gentle Saone We glided forward with the flowing Stream; Swift Rhone! thou wert the wings on which we cut A winding passage with majestic ease Between thy lofty rocks. Enchanting shew Those woods, and farms, and orchards did present, And single cottages, and lurking towns, Reach after reach, succession without end Of deep and stately Vales! A lonely Pair Of Strangers, till day closed, we sailed along, Clustered together with a merry crowd Of those emancipated; a blithe Host Of Travellers, chiefly Delegates, returning From the great Spousals newly solemnized At their chief City, in the sight of heaven.

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228â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Like bees they swarmed, gaudy and gay as bees; Some vapoured in the unruliness of joy And, with their swords, flourished, as if to fight The saucy air. In this proud Company We landed, took with them our evening meal, Guests welcome almost as the Angels were To Abraham of old. The supper done, With flowing cups elate and happy thoughts, We rose at signal given, and formed a ring And, hand in hand, danced round and round the Board: All hearts were open, every tongue was loud With amity and glee; we bore a name Honored in France, the name of Englishmen, And hospitably did they give us hail! As their forerunners in a glorious course; And round and round the board we danced again. With these blithe Friends our voyage we renewed At early dawn. The Monastery bells Made a sweet jingling in our youthful ears; The rapid River flowing without noise, And each uprising or receding Spire Spake with a sense of peace, at intervals Touching the heart, amid the boisterous crew By whom we were encompassed. Taking leave Of this glad Throng, foot-Travellers side by side, Measuring our steps in quiet we pursued Our journey, and, ere twice the sun had set, Beheld the Convent of Chartreuse, and there Rested within an awful Solitude. Yes, for even then no other than a Place Of soul-affecting Solitude appeared That far-famed region, though our eyes had seen, As toward the sacred Mansion we advanced, Arms flashing, and a military glare Of riotous men commissioned to expel The blameless Inmates; and belike subvert That frame of social being, which so long Had bodied forth the ghostliness of things In silence visible, and perpetual calm.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 229 —“Stay, stay your sacrilegious hands!”—the voice Was Nature’s, uttered from her Alpine throne; I heard it then, and seem to hear it now: “Your impious work forbear; perish what may, Let this one Temple last, be this one spot Of earth devoted to Eternity!” She ceased to speak; but while St Bruno’s pines Waved their dark tops, not silent as they waved; And while below, along their several beds, Murmured the Sister Streams of Life and Death, Thus by conflicting passions pressed, my Heart Responded, “Honor to the Patriot’s zeal! Glory and hope to new-born Liberty! Hail to the mighty projects of the Time! Discerning Sword that Justice wields, do thou Go forth and prosper; and ye purging fires Up to the loftiest Towers of Pride ascend, Fanned by the breath of angry Providence; But Oh! if past and future be the wings On whose support harmoniously conjoined Moves the great Spirit of human Knowledge, spare These courts mysterious, where a step advanced Between the portals of the shadowy rocks Leaves far behind life’s treacherous vanities, For penitential tears and trembling hopes Exchanged—to equalize in God’s pure sight Monarch and Peasant: be the house redeemed With its unworldly Votaries, for the sake Of conquest over sense hourly atchieved Through faith and meditative reason, resting Upon the word of heaven-imparted Truth Calmly triumphant; and for humbler claim Of that imaginative impulse sent From these majestic floods, yon shining cliffs, The untransmuted Shapes of many worlds, Cerulean Ether’s pure inhabitants; These forests unapproachable by death, That shall endure as long as man endures To think, to hope, to worship, and to feel,

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230â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To struggle, to be lost within himself In trepidation; from the blank abyss To look with bodily eyes, and be consoled.” Not seldom since that moment have I wished That thou, O Friend! the trouble or the calm Hadst shared, when, from profane regards apart, In sympathetic reverence we trod The floor of those dim cloisters, till that hour, From their foundation, strangers to the presence Of unrestricted and unthinking Man. Abroad, how chearingly the sunshine lay Upon the open lawns! Vallombre’s groves Entering, we fed the Soul with darkness, thence Issued, and with uplifted eyes beheld, In different quarters of the bending sky, The Cross of Jesus stand erect, as if Hands of angelic Powers had fixed it there, Memorial reverenced by a thousand Storms; Yet then, from the undiscriminating sweep And rage of one State-whirlwind, insecure. ’Tis not my present purpose to retrace That variegated journey step by step; A march it was of military speed, And earth did change her images and forms Before us, fast as clouds are changed in heaven. Day after day, up early and down late, From hill to vale we dropped—from vale to hill Mounted,—from province on to province swept— Keen hunters in a chase of fourteen weeks, Eager as birds of prey, or as a Ship Upon the stretch when winds are blowing fair. Sweet coverts did we cross of pastoral life, Enticing Vallies, greeted them and left Too soon, while yet the very flash and gleam Of salutation were not passed away. Oh! sorrow for the Youth who could have seen Unchastened, unsubdued, unawed, unraised To patriarchal dignity of mind And pure simplicity of wish and will,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 231 Those sanctified Abodes of peaceful Man; Pleased (though to hardship born, and compassed round With danger, varying as the seasons change), Pleased with his daily tasks, or, if not pleased, Contented, from the moment that the Dawn, Ah! surely not without attendant gleams Of soul-illumination, calls him forth To industry, by glistenings flung on rocks Whose evening shadows lead him to repose. Well might a Stranger look with bounding heart Down on a green Recess, the first I saw Of those deep haunts, an aboriginal Vale, Quiet, and lorded over, and possessed By naked huts, wood-built and sown like tents, Or Indian Cabins over the fresh lawns And by the river side. That very day, From a bare ridge we also first beheld Unveiled the summit of Mont Blanc, and grieved To have a soulless image on the eye Which had usurped upon a living thought That never more could be. The wondrous Vale Of Chamouny stretched far below, and soon With its dumb cataracts, and streams of ice, A motionless array of mighty waves, Five rivers broad and vast, made rich amends, And reconciled us to realities. There small birds warble from the leafy trees, The eagle soars high in the element; There doth the Reaper bind the yellow sheaf, The Maiden spread the hay-cock in the sun, While Winter like a well-tamed lion walks, Descending from the Mountain to make sport Among the Cottages by beds of flowers. Whate’er in this wide circuit we beheld, Or heard, was fitted to our unripe state Of intellect and heart. With such a book Before our eyes we could not chuse but read Lessons of genuine brotherhood, the plain And universal reason of mankind,

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232â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The truths of Young and Old. Nor, side by side Pacing, two social Pilgrims, or alone Each with his humour, could we fail to abound In dreams and fictions pensively composed, Dejection taken up for pleasure’s sake, And gilded sympathies; the willow wreath, And sober posies of funereal flowers Gathered, among those solitudes sublime, From formal gardens of the Lady Sorrow, Did sweeten many a meditative hour. Yet still in me with those soft luxuries Mixed something of stern mood, an under thirst Of vigor seldom utterly allayed. And from that source how different a sadness Would issue, let one incident make known. When from the Vallais we had turned, and clomb Along the Simplon’s steep and rugged road, Following a band of Muleteers, we reached A halting-place where all together took Their noon-tide meal. Hastily rose our Guide, Leaving us at the Board; awhile we lingered, Then paced the beaten downward way that led Right to a rough stream’s edge and there broke off. The only track now visible was one That from the torrent’s further brink held forth Conspicuous invitation to ascend A lofty mountain. After brief delay Crossing the unbridged stream, that road we took And clomb with eagerness, till anxious fears Intruded, for we failed to overtake Our Comrades gone before. By fortunate chance, While every moment added doubt to doubt, A Peasant met us, from whose mouth we learned That to the Spot which had perplexed us first We must descend, and there should find the road, Which in the stony channel of the Stream Lay a few steps, and then along its banks, And that our future course, all plain to sight, Was downwards, with the current of that Stream.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 233 Loth to believe what we so grieved to hear, For still we had hopes that pointed to the clouds, We questioned him again, and yet again; But every word that from the Peasant’s lips Came in reply, translated by our feelings, Ended in this, that we had crossed the Alps. Imagination—here the Power so called Through sad incompetence of human speech— That awful Power rose from the Mind’s abyss Like an unfathered vapour that enwraps At once some lonely Traveller. I was lost, Halted without an effort to break through; But to my conscious soul I now can say, “I recognize thy glory”; in such strength Of usurpation, when the light of sense Goes out, but with a flash that has revealed The invisible world, doth Greatness make abode, There harbours, whether we be young or old; Our destiny, our being’s heart and home, Is with infinitude, and only there; With hope it is, hope that can never die, Effort, and expectation, and desire, And something evermore about to be. Under such banners militant the Soul Seeks for no trophies, struggles for no spoils, That may attest her prowess, blest in thoughts That are their own perfection and reward, Strong in herself, and in beatitude That hides her like the mighty flood of Nile Poured from his fount of Abyssinian clouds To fertilize the whole Egyptian plain. The melancholy slackening that ensued Upon those tidings by the Peasant given Was soon dislodged; downwards we hurried fast And, with the half-shaped road, which we had missed, Entered a narrow chasm. The brook and road Were fellow-Travellers in this gloomy Strait, And with them did we journey several hours At a slow pace. The immeasurable height

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234â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of woods decaying, never to be decayed, The stationary blasts of waterfalls, And in the narrow rent at every turn Winds thwarting winds, bewildered and forlorn, The torrents shooting from the clear blue sky, The rocks that muttered close upon our ears, Black drizzling crags that spake by the way-side As if a voice were in them, the sick sight And giddy prospect of the raving stream, The unfettered clouds, and region of the Heavens, Tumult and peace, the darkness and the light— Were all like workings of one mind, the features Of the same face, blossoms upon one tree, Characters of the great Apocalypse, The types and symbols of Eternity, Of first and last, and midst, and without end. That night our lodging was a House that stood Alone within the valley, at a point Where tumbling from aloft a torrent swelled The rapid stream whose margin we had trod; A dreary Mansion large beyond all need, With high and spacious rooms, deafened and stunned By noise of waters, making innocent sleep Lie melancholy among weary bones. Uprisen betimes, our journey we renewed, Led by the stream, ere noon-day magnified Into a lordly river, broad and deep, Dimpling along in silent majesty; With mountains for its neighbours, and in view Of distant mountains and their snowy tops; And thus proceeding to Locarna’s Lake, Fit resting-place for such a Visitant. —Locarna, spreading out in width like Heaven, How dost Thou cleave to the poetic Heart, Bask in the sunshine of the memory! And Como, thou a treasure whom the earth Keeps to herself, confined as in a depth Of Abyssinian privacy! I spake Of thee, thy chestnut woods, and garden plots

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 235 Of Indian corn tended by dark-eyed Maids, Thy lofty steeps, and pathways roofed with vines Winding from house to house, from town to town, Sole link that binds them to each other, walks League after league, and cloistral avenues Where silence dwells, if music be not there; While yet a Youth undisciplined in verse, Through fond ambition of that hour, I strove To chaunt your praise, nor can approach you now Ungreeted by a more melodious Song Where tones of Nature smoothed by learned Art May flow in lasting current. Like a breeze Or sunbeam, over your domain I passed In motion without pause, but Ye have left Your beauty with me, a serene accord Of forms and colors, passive, yet endowed In their submissiveness with power as sweet And gracious, almost might I dare to say, As virtue is, or goodness; sweet as love Or the remembrance of a generous deed, Or mildest visitations of pure thought When God, the giver of all joy, is thanked Religiously, in silent blessedness, Sweet as this last herself, for such it is. With those delightful pathways we advanced For two days’ space in presence of the Lake, That, stretching far among the Alps, assumed A character more stern. The second night, From sleep awakened, and misled by sound Of the Church clock telling the hours with strokes Whose import then we had not learned, we rose By moon-light, doubting not that day was nigh, And that, meanwhile, by no uncertain path Along the winding margin of the lake Led as before, we should behold the scene Hushed in profound repose. We left the Town Of Gravedona with this hope; but soon Were lost, bewildered among woods immense, And on a rock sate down, to wait for day.

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236â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth An open place it was, and overlooked, From high, the sullen water far beneath, On which a dull red image of the moon Lay bedded, changing oftentimes its form Like an uneasy snake. From hour to hour We sate, and sate, wondering, as if the Night Had been ensnared by witchcraft. On the rock At last we stretched our weary limbs for sleep, But could not sleep,—tormented by the stings Of Insects, which with noise like that of noon Filled all the woods. The cry of unknown birds; The mountains, more by blackness visible And their own size, than any outward light; The breathless wilderness of clouds; the clock That told with unintelligible voice The widely-parted hours; the noise of streams; And sometimes rustling motions nigh at hand That did not leave us free from personal fear; And lastly the withdrawing moon, that set Before us while she still was high in heaven; These were our food; and such a summer night Followed that pair of golden days, that shed On Como’s Lake and all that round it lay Their fairest, softest, happiest influence. But here I must break off, and bid farewell To days each offering some new sight, or fraught With some untried adventure, in a course Prolonged till sprinklings of autumnal snow Checked our unwearied steps. Let this alone Be mentioned as a parting word, that not In hollow exultation, dealing out Hyperboles of praise comparative, Not rich one moment to be poor for ever, Not prostrate, overborne, as if the mind Herself were nothing, a mere pensioner On outward forms, did we in presence stand Of that magnificent region. On the front Of this whole Song is written, that my heart Must in such Temple needs have offered up

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 237 A different worship. Finally, whate’er I saw, or heard, or felt, was but a stream That flowed into a kindred Stream; a gale Confederate with the current of the Soul To speed my voyage; every sound or sight, In its degree of power, administered To grandeur or to tenderness, to the one Directly, but to tender thoughts, by means Less often instantaneous in effect: Led me to these by paths that in the main Were more circuitous, but not less sure Duly to reach the point marked out by heaven. Oh! most beloved Friend, a glorious time, A happy time that was; triumphant looks Were then the common language of all eyes: As if awaked from sleep, the Nations hailed Their great expectancy: the fife of War Was then a spirit-stirring sound indeed, A black-bird’s whistle in a budding grove. We left the Swiss exulting in the fate Of their near Neighbours: and, when shortening fast Our pilgrimage, nor distant far from home, We crossed the Brabant Armies, on the fret For battle in the cause of Liberty. A Stripling, scarcely of the household then Of social life, I looked upon these things As from a distance; heard, and saw, and felt, Was touched, but with no intimate concern; I seemed to move among them, as a bird Moves through the air, or as a fish pursues Its sport or feeds in its proper element; I wanted not that joy, I did not need Such help; the ever-living Universe, Turn where I might, was opening out its glories; And the independent Spirit of pure Youth Called forth, at every season, new delights Spread round my steps like sunshine o’er green fields.

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238â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Book Seventh Residence in London Six changeful years have vanished since I first Poured out (saluted by that quickening breeze Which met me issuing from the City’s Walls) A glad preamble to this verse: I sang Aloud with fervour irresistible Of short-lived transport,—like a torrent bursting From a black thunder cloud, down Scafell’s side To rush and disappear. But soon broke forth (So willed the Muse) a less impetuous Stream That flowed awhile with unabating strength, Then stopped for years; not audible again Before last primrose-time. Beloved Friend! The assurance which then cheared some heavy thoughts On thy departure to a foreign Land Has failed,—too slowly moves the promised Work; Through the whole Summer have I been at rest, Partly from voluntary holiday And part through outward hinderance. But I heard, After the hour of sunset yestereven, Sitting within doors between light and dark, A choir of redbreasts, gathered somewhere near My threshold, Minstrels from the distant woods Sent in on Winter’s service, to announce, With preparation artful and benign, That the rough Lord had left the surly north On his accustomed journey. The delight Due to this timely notice unawares Smote me, and, listening, I in whispers said, “Ye heartsome Choristers, ye and I will be Associates, and unscared by blustering winds Will chaunt together.” Thereafter, as the shades Of twilight deepened, going forth I spied A glow-worm underneath a dusky plume Or canopy of yet unwithered fern Clear-shining, like a Hermit’s taper seen Through a thick forest. Silence touched me here No less than sound had done before; the Child

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 239 Of Summer, lingering, shining by herself, The voiceless worm on the unfrequented hills, Seemed sent on the same errand with the Choir Of Winter that had warbled at my door; And the whole year breathed tenderness and love. The last night’s genial feeling overflowed Upon this morning, and my favourite Grove, Tossing in sunshine its dark boughs aloft As if to make the strong wind visible, Wakes in me agitations like its own, A spirit friendly to the Poet’s task, Which we will now resume with lively hope, Nor checked by aught of tamer argument That lies before us, needful to be told. Returned from that excursion, soon I bade Farewell for ever to the sheltered seats Of gowned Students, quitted Hall and Bower And every comfort of that privileged ground, Well pleased to pitch a vagrant Tent among The unfenced regions of society. Yet undetermined to what course of life I should adhere, and seeming to possess A little space of intermediate time At full command, to London first I turned, In no disturbance of excessive hope, By personal ambition unenslaved, Frugal as there was need, and, though self-willed, From dangerous passions free. Three years had flown Since I had felt in heart and soul the shock Of the huge Town’s first presence, and had paced Her endless streets, a transient visitant. Now, fixed amid that concourse of mankind Where Pleasure whirls about incessantly, Or life and labour seem but one, I filled An Idler’s place—an Idler well content To have a house (what matter for a home?) That owned him; living chearfully abroad, With unchecked fancy ever on the stir, And all my young affections out of doors.

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240â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth There was a time, when whatsoe’er is feigned Of airy palaces and gardens built By Genii of Romance; or hath in grave Authentic history been set forth of Rome, Alcairo, Babylon, or Persepolis, Or given upon report by Pilgrim Friars Of golden Cities ten months’ journey deep Among Tartarean Wilds, fell short, far short, Of what my fond simplicity believed And thought of London; held me by a chain Less strong of wonder and obscure delight. Whether the bolt of childhood’s Fancy shot For me beyond its ordinary mark, ’Twere vain to ask, but in our flock of Boys Was one, a Cripple from his birth, whom Chance Summoned from School to London; fortunate And envied Traveller! When the Boy returned After short absence, curiously I scanned His mien and person, nor was free, in sooth, From disappointment, not to find some change In look and air, from that new region brought As if from fairy land. Much I questioned him, And every word he uttered, on my ears Fell flatter than a caged Parrot’s note, That answers unexpectedly awry, And mocks the Prompter’s listening. Marvellous things Had Vanity (quick Spirit that appears Almost as deeply seated and as strong In a Child’s heart as Fear itself) conceived For my enjoyment. Would that I could now Recal what then I pictured to myself Of mitred Prelates, Lords in ermine clad, The King and the King’s Palace, and, not last Nor least, heaven bless him! the renowned Lord Mayor; Dreams not unlike to those which once begot A change of purpose in young Whittington When he, a friendless and a drooping Boy, Sate on a Stone, and heard the bells speak out Articulate music. Above all, one thought

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 241 Baffled my understanding, how men lived Even next-door neighbours, as we say, yet still Strangers, nor knowing each the other’s name. —Oh wondrous power of words, by simple faith Licenced to take the meaning that we love! Vauxhall and Ranelagh, I then had heard Of your green groves, and wilderness of lamps Dimming the stars, fire-works magical, And gorgeous Ladies under splendid Domes Floating in dance, or warbling high in air The Songs of Spirits! Nor had Fancy fed With less delight upon that other class Of marvels, broad-day wonders permanent; The River proudly bridged; the dizzy top And Whispering Gallery of St Paul’s; the Tombs Of Westminster; the Giants of Guildhall; Bedlam, and those carved Maniacs at her gates Perpetually recumbent; Statues, Man And the horse under him, in gilded pomp, Adorning flowery Gardens ’mid vast squares; The Monument, and that chamber of the Tower Where England’s Sovereigns sit in long array Their Steeds bestriding, every mimic Shape Cased in the gleaming mail the Monarch wore, Whether for gorgeous tournament addressed Or life, or death, upon the battle field. Those bold Imaginations in due time Had vanished, leaving others in their stead; And now I looked upon the living scene, Familiarly perused it, oftentimes, In spite of strongest disappointment, pleased Through courteous self-submission, as a tax Paid to the object by prescriptive right. Rise up, thou monstrous Ant-hill on the plain Of a too busy world! Before me flow, Thou endless stream of men and moving things! Thy every day appearance as it strikes— With wonder heightened or sublimed by awe— On Strangers, of all ages,—the quick dance

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242â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of colors, lights, and forms; the deafening din; The comers and the goers face to face, Face after face; the String of dazzling wares, Shop after Shop, with Symbols, blazoned Names, And all the Tradesman’s honors overhead; Here, fronts of houses, like a title-page, With letters huge inscribed from top to toe: Stationed above the door, like guardian Saints, There, allegoric shapes, female or male; Or physiognomies of real men, Land-Warriors, Kings, or Admirals of the Sea, Boyle, Shakespeare, Newton; or the attractive head Of some Quack-Doctor, famous in his day. Meanwhile the roar continues, till at length, Escaped as from an enemy, we turn Abruptly into some sequestered nook, Still as a sheltered place when winds blow loud! At leisure thence through tracts of thin resort, And sights and sounds that come at intervals, We take our way: a raree-shew is here, With Children gathered round; another street Presents a Company of dancing-dogs; Or Dromedary, with an antic pair Of Monkies on his back,—a minstrel band Of Savoyards,—or, single and alone, An English ballad-singer. Private Courts, Gloomy as coffins; and unsightly lanes Thrilled by some female vendor’s scream, belike The very shrillest of all London Cries, May then entangle our impatient steps Conducted through those labyrinths unawares To priviledged Regions and inviolate, Where, from their airy lodges, studious Lawyers Look out on waters, walks, and gardens green. Thence back into the throng, until we reach, Following the tide that slackens by degrees, Some half-frequented scene where wider streets Bring straggling breezes of suburban air. Here files of ballads dangle from dead walls;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 243 Advertisements of giant size from high Press forward in all colors on the sight; These bold in conscious merit, lower down That, fronted with a most imposing word, Is, peradventure, one in masquerade. As on the broadening Causeway we advance, Behold, turned upwards, a face hard and strong In lineaments, and red with overtoil; ’Tis one encountered here and every-where, A travelling Cripple by the trunk cut short, And stumping on his arms. In Sailor’s garb, Another lies at length beside a range Of well-formed characters, with chalk inscribed Upon the smooth flat stones: the Nurse is here, The Bachelor that loves to sun himself, The military Idler, and the Dame That fieldward takes her walk, with decent steps. Now homeward through the thickening hubbub, where See, among less distinguishable shapes, The begging Scavenger, with hat in hand; The Italian, as he thrids his way with care, Steadying, far-seen, a frame of Images Upon his head; with basket at his waist The Jew; the stately and slow-moving Turk With freight of slippers piled beneath his arm! —Enough—the mighty concourse I surveyed With no unthinking mind, well pleased to note Among the crowd, all specimens of man, Through all the colors which the sun bestows And every character of form and face; The Swede, the Russian; from the genial South, The Frenchman and the Spaniard; from remote America, the Hunter-indian; Moors, Malays, Lascars, the Tartar, the Chinese, And Negro Ladies in white muslin Gowns. At leisure then I viewed from day to day The Spectacles within doors—birds and beasts Of every nature, and strange Plants convened From every clime; and next, those sights that ape

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244â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The absolute presence of reality, Expressing, as in mirror, sea and land, And what earth is, and what she hath to shew. I do not here allude to subtlest craft By means refined attaining purest ends, But imitations fondly made in plain Confession of Man’s weakness and his loves; Whether the Painter, whose ambitious skill Submits to nothing less than taking in A whole horizon’s circuit, do, with power Like that of angels or commissioned Spirits, Fix us upon some lofty Pinnacle, Or in a Ship on Waters, with a World Of Life, and life-like mockery, beneath, Above, behind, far-stretching, and before; Or more mechanic Artist represent By scale exact, in model, wood or clay, From blended colors also borrowing help, Some miniature of famous Spots or Things, St Peter’s Church, or, more aspiring aim, In microscopic vision Rome herself; Or haply some choice rural haunt, the Falls Of Tivoli, and high upon that Steep The Sybil’s mouldering Temple! every Tree, Villa—or Cottage lurking among rocks Throughout the landscape, tuft, stone, scratch minute— All that the Traveller sees when he is there. Add to these exhibitions, mute and still, Others of wider scope, where living men, Music, and shifting pantomimic scenes Diversified the allurement. Need I fear To mention by its name, as in degree Lowest of these, and humblest in attempt, Yet richly graced with honors of her own, Half-rural Sadler’s Wells? Though at that time Intolerant, as is the way of Youth, Unless itself be pleased, here more than once Taking my seat, I saw (nor blush to add, With ample recompense) Giants and Dwarfs,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 245 Clowns, Conjurers, Posture-masters, Harlequins, Amid the uproar of the rabblement, Perform their feats. Nor was it mean delight To watch crude Nature work in untaught minds; To note the laws and progress of belief; Though obstinate on this way, yet on that How willingly we travel, and how far! To have, for instance, brought upon the scene The Champion Jack the Giant-Killer—Lo! He dons his Coat of darkness; on the Stage Walks, and achieves his wonders, from the eye Of living mortal covert, as the moon “Hid in her vacant interlunar Cave.” Delusion bold! and how can it be wrought? The garb he wears is black as death, the word Invisible flames forth upon his chest! Here too were “forms and pressures of the time,” Rough, bold, as Grecian Comedy displayed When Art was young, dramas of living Men; And recent things yet warm with life—a Sea-fight, Ship-wreck, or some domestic incident Divulged by Truth, and magnified by Fame, Such as the daring Brotherhood, of late, Set forth, too serious theme for that light place! I mean, O distant Friend! a story drawn From our own ground, the Maid of Buttermere, And how, unfaithful to a virtuous Wife Deserted and deceived, the Spoiler came, And wooed the artless Daughter of the Hills, And wedded her, in cruel mockery Of love and marriage bonds. These words to thee Must needs bring back the moment when we first, Ere the broad world rang with the Maiden’s name, Beheld her serving at the Cottage Inn, Both stricken, as she entered or withdrew, With admiration of her modest mien And carriage, marked by unexampled grace. Not unfamiliarly we since that time Have seen her; her discretion have observed,

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246â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Her just opinions, delicate reserve, Her patience, and humility of mind Unspoiled by commendation, and the excess Of public notice—an offensive light To a meek spirit, suffering inwardly. From this memorial Tribute, to my Theme I was returning, when with sundry Forms Commingled, Shapes which meet me in the way That we must tread, thy Image rose again, Maiden of Buttermere! She lives in peace, Upon the Spot where she was born and reared; Without contamination doth she live In quietness, without anxiety. Beside the mountain Chapel sleeps in earth Her new-born Infant, fearless as a Lamb That, thither driven from some unsheltered place, Rests underneath the little rock-like Pile When storms are raging. Happy are they both— Mother and Child! These feelings, in themselves Trite, do yet scarcely seem so when I think On those ingenuous moments of our youth Ere we have learnt by use to slight the crimes And sorrows of the world. Those simple days Are now my theme, and, foremost of the scenes Which yet survive in memory, appears One at whose centre sate a lovely boy, A sportive Infant, who, for six months’ space, Not more, had been of age to deal about Articulate prattle; Child as beautiful As ever clung around a Mother’s neck, Or Father fondly gazed upon with pride! There too, conspicuous for stature tall And large dark eyes, beside her infant stood The Mother—but, upon her cheeks diffused, False tints too well accorded with the glare From Play-house lustres thrown without reserve On every Object near. The Boy had been The pride and pleasure of all lookers-on In whatsoever place; but seemed in this

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 247 A sort of Alien scattered from the clouds. Of lusty vigour, more than Infantine, He was in limb, in cheek a summer rose Just three parts blown—a Cottage Child, if e’er By Cottage-door on breezy mountain side, Or in some sheltering Vale, was seen a Babe By Nature’s gifts so favored. Upon a Board Decked with refreshments had this Child been placed, His little Stage in the vast Theatre, And there he sate, surrounded with a Throng Of chance Spectators, chiefly dissolute Men And shameless women; treated and caressed, Ate, drank, and with the fruit and glasses played, While oaths and laughter and indecent speech Were rife about him as the songs of birds Contending after showers. The Mother now Is fading out of memory, but I see The lovely Boy as I beheld him then, Among the wretched and the falsely gay, Like one of those who walked with hair unsinged Amid the fiery furnace. Charms and spells Muttered on black and spiteful instigation Have stopped, as some believe, the kindliest growths; Ah, with how different spirit might a prayer Have been preferred, that this fair Creature, checked By special privilege of Nature’s love, Should in his Childhood be detained for ever! But with its universal freight the tide Hath rolled along, and this bright Innocent, Mary! may now have lived till he could look With envy on thy nameless Babe, that sleeps, Beside the mountain Chapel, undisturbed! Four rapid years had scarcely then been told Since, travelling southward from our pastoral hills, I heard, and for the first time in my life, The voice of Woman utter blasphemy; Saw Woman as she is to open shame Abandoned, and the pride of public vice. I shuddered, for a barrier seemed at once

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248â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Thrown in, that from humanity divorced Humanity, splitting the race of Man In twain, yet leaving the same outward Form. Distress of mind ensued upon the sight, And ardent meditation. Later years Brought to such spectacle a milder sadness, Feelings of pure commiseration, grief For the individual, and the overthrow Of her Soul’s beauty; farther I was then But seldom led, or wished to go; in truth The sorrow of the passion stopped me there. But let me now, less moved, in order take Our argument. Enough is said to shew How casual incidents of real life, Observed where pastime only had been sought, Outweighed, or put to flight, the set Events And measured Passions of the Stage, albeit By Siddons trod in the fullness of her power. Yet was the Theatre my dear delight; The very gilding, lamps and painted scrolls, And all the mean upholstery of the place Wanted not animation when the tide Of pleasure ebbed but to return as fast With the ever shifting Figures of the scene, Solemn or gay: whether some beauteous Dame Advanced in radiance through a deep recess Of thick entangled forest, like the Moon Opening the clouds; or sovereign King, announced With flourishing Trumpet, came in full-blown State Of the World’s greatness, winding round with Train Of Courtiers, Banners, and a length of Guards; Or Captive led in abject weeds, and jingling His slender manacles; or romping Girl Bounced, leapt, and pawed the air; or mumbling Sire, A scare-crow pattern of old Age, dressed up In all the tatters of infirmity All loosely put together, hobbled in Stumping upon a Cane, with which he smites, From time to time, the solid boards, and makes them

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 249 Prate somewhat loudly of the whereabout Of one so overloaded with his years. But what of this? the laugh, the grin, grimace, The antics striving to outstrip each other, Were all received, the least of them not lost, With an unmeasured welcome. Through the night, Between the shew, and many-headed mass Of the Spectators, and each several nook Filled with its fray or brawl, how eagerly, And with what flashes, as it were, the mind Turned this way, that way! Sportive and alert, And watchful, as a kitten when at play While winds are eddying round her, among straws And rustling leaves. Enchanting age and sweet! Romantic almost, looked at through a space How small of intervening years! For then, Though surely no mean progress had been made In meditations holy and sublime, Yet something of a girlish child-like gloss Of novelty survived for scenes like these; Enjoyment haply handed down from times When at a Country-playhouse, some rude Barn Tricked out for that proud use, if I perchance Caught on a summer evening, through a chink In the old wall, an unexpected glimpse Of daylight, the bare thought of where I was Gladdened me more than if I had been led Into a dazzling Cavern of Romance, Crowded with Genii busy among works Not to be looked at by the common sun. The matter that detains us now may seem To many neither dignified enough Nor arduous; yet will not be scorned by them Who, looking inward, have observed the ties That bind the perishable hours of life Each to the other, and the curious props By which the world of memory and thought Exists, and is sustained. More lofty themes, Such as at least do wear a prouder face,

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250â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Solicit our regard; but when I think Of these I feel the imaginative Power Languish within me; even then it slept When, pressed by tragic sufferings, the heart Was more than full;—amid my sobs and tears It slept, even in the pregnant season of Youth: For though I was most passionately moved, And yielded to all changes of the scene With an obsequious promptness, yet the storm Passed not beyond the suburbs of the mind; Save when realities of act and mien, The incarnation of the Spirits that move In harmony amid the Poet’s world, Rose to ideal grandeur, or, called forth By power of contrast, made me recognize, As at a glance, the things which I had shaped, And yet not shaped, had seen, and scarcely seen, When, having closed the mighty Shakespeare’s page, I mused, and thought, and felt in solitude. Pass we from entertainments that are such Professedly, to others titled higher, Yet, in the estimate of Youth at least, More near akin to those than names imply; I mean the brawls of Lawyers in their Courts Before the ermined Judge; or that great Stage Where Senators, tongue-favored men, perform, Admired and envied. Oh! the beating heart, When one among the prime of these rose up, One, of whose name from Childhood we had heard Familiarly, a household term, like those, The Bedfords, Glo’sters, Salisburys of old Whom the fifth Harry talks of. Silence! hush! This is no trifler, no short-flighted wit, No stammerer of a minute, painfully Delivered, No! the Orator hath yoked The Hours, like young Aurora, to his Car: Thrice welcome Presence! how can patience e’er Grow weary of attending on a track That kindles with such glory! All are charmed,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 251 Astonished; like a Hero in Romance, He winds away his never-ending horn; Words follow words, sense seems to follow sense; What memory and what logic! till the Strain Transcendent, superhuman as it seemed, Grows tedious even in a young Man’s ear. —Genius of Burke! forgive the pen seduced By specious wonders, and too slow to tell Of what the ingenuous, what bewildered Men Beginning to mistrust their boastful guides, And wise men, willing to grow wiser, caught, Rapt auditors! from thy most eloquent tongue— Now mute, for ever mute, in the cold grave. I see him, old but vigorous in age, Stand, like an Oak whose stag-horn branches start Out of its leafy brow, the more to awe The younger brethren of the grove. But some— While he forewarns, denounces, launches forth, Against all systems built on abstract rights, Keen ridicule; the majesty proclaims Of Institutes and Laws hallowed by Time; Declares the vital power of social ties Endeared by Custom; and with high disdain Exploding upstart Theory, insists Upon the Allegiance to which Men are born— Some—say at once a froward multitude— Murmur (for truth is hated, where not loved) As the winds fret within the Eolian cave, Galled by their Monarch’s chain. The times were big With ominous change which, night by night, provoked Keen struggles, and black clouds of passion raised; But memorable moments intervened When Wisdom, like the Goddess from Jove’s brain, Broke forth in armour of resplendent words, Startling the Synod. Could a Youth, and one In ancient story versed, whose breast had heaved Under the weight of classic eloquence, Sit, see, and hear, unthankful, uninspired? Nor did the Pulpit’s oratory fail

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252â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To achieve its higher triumph. Not unfelt Were its admonishments, nor lightly heard The awful truths delivered thence by tongues Endowed with various power to search the soul; Yet ostentation, domineering, oft Poured forth harangues, how sadly out of place! There have I seen a comely Bachelor, Fresh from a toilette of two hours, ascend His Rostrum, with seraphic glance look up; And, in a tone elaborately low Beginning, lead his voice through many a maze, A minuet course; and, winding up his mouth, From time to time, into an orifice Most delicate, a lurking eyelet, small And only not invisible, again Open it out, diffusing thence a smile Of rapt irradiation, exquisite. Meanwhile the Evangelists, Isaiah, Job, Moses, and he who penned, the other day, The Death of Abel, Shakespear, and the Bard Whose genius spangled o’er a gloomy theme With fancies thick as his inspiring stars; And Ossian (doubt not, ’tis the naked truth) Summoned from streamy Morven, each and all Would in their turn lend ornaments and flowers To entwine the crook of eloquence that helped This pretty Shepherd, pride of all the plains, To rule, and guide his captivated Flock. I glance but at a few conspicuous marks; Leaving a thousand others that in hall, Court, Theatre, Conventicle, or Shop, In public Room or Private, Park or Street, Each fondly reared on his own Pedestal, Looked out for admiration. Folly, vice, Extravagance in gesture, mien, and dress, And all the strife of singularity; . Lies to the ear, and lies to every sense, Of these, and of the living shapes they wear, There is no end. Such Candidates for regard,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 253 Although well pleased to be where they were found, I did not hunt after, nor greatly prize, Nor made unto myself a secret boast Of reading them with quick and curious eye; But as a common produce, things that are Today—tomorrow will be, took of them Such willing note as, on some errand bound That asks not speed, a Traveller might bestow On sea-shells that bestrew the sandy beach, Or daisies swarming through the fields of June. But foolishness and madness in parade, Though most at home in this their dear domain, Are scattered every where; no rarities Even to the rudest novice of the Schools. Me rather it employed to note, and keep In memory, those individual sights Of courage, or integrity, or truth, Or tenderness, which, there set off by foil, Appeared more touching. One will I select, A Father—for he bore that sacred name! Him saw I sitting in an open Square, Upon a corner-stone of that low wall Wherein were fixed the iron pales that fenced A spacious Grass-plot: there in silence sate This one Man, with a sickly Babe outstretched Upon his knee, whom he had thither brought For sunshine, and to breathe the fresher air. Of those who passed, and me who looked at him, He took no heed; but in his brawny arms (The Artificer was to the elbow bare, And from his work this moment had been stolen) He held the Child, and, bending over it, As if he were afraid both of the sun And of the air which he had come to seek, Eyed the poor Babe with love unutterable. As the black storm upon the mountain top Sets off the sunbeam in the Valley, so That huge fermenting Mass of human-kind Serves as a solemn background or relief

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254â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To single forms and objects, whence they draw, For feeling and contemplative regard, More than inherent liveliness and power. How oft amid those overflowing streets Have I gone forward with the Crowd, and said Unto myself, “The face of every one That passes by me is a mystery!” Thus have I looked, nor ceased to look, oppressed By thoughts of what and whither, when and how, Until the Shapes before my eyes became A second-sight procession, such as glides Over still mountains, or appears in dreams. And once, far-travelled in such mood, beyond The reach of common indication, lost Amid the moving pageant, I was smitten Abruptly with the view (a sight not rare) Of a blind Beggar who, with upright face, Stood propped against a Wall; upon his chest Wearing a written paper to explain His Story, whence he came, and who he was. Caught by the spectacle, my mind turned round As with the might of waters; an apt type This Label seemed, of the utmost we can know Both of ourselves and of the universe; And on the Shape of that unmoving Man, His steadfast face, and sightless eyes, I gazed As if admonished from another world. Though reared upon the base of outward things, Structures like these the excited Spirit mainly Builds for herself. Scenes different there are, Full-formed, that take, with small internal help, Possession of the faculties—the peace That comes with night; the deep solemnity Of Nature’s intermediate hours of rest, When the great tide of human life stands still, The business of the day to come—unborn, Of that gone by—locked up as in the grave; The blended calmness of the heavens and earth, Moonlight, and stars, and empty streets, and sounds

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 255 Unfrequent as in deserts: at late hours Of winter evenings when unwholesome rains Are falling hard, with people yet astir, The feeble salutation from the voice Of some unhappy woman, now and then Heard as we pass; when no one looks about, Nothing is listened to. But these, I fear, Are falsely catalogued; things that are, are not, As the mind answers to them, or the heart Is prompt or slow to feel. What say you, then, To times when half the City shall break out Full of one passion, vengeance, rage, or fear? To executions, to a Street on fire, Mobs, riots, or rejoicings? From these sights Take one, that annual Festival, the Fair Holden where Martyrs suffered in past time, And named of St Bartholomew; there see A work completed to our hands, that lays, If any spectacle on earth can do, The whole creative powers of Man asleep! For once the Muse’s help will we implore, And she shall lodge us, wafted on her wings, Above the press and danger of the Crowd, Upon some Shewman’s platform. What a shock For eyes and ears! what anarchy and din Barbarian and infernal—a phantasma Monstrous in color, motion, shape, sight, sound! Below, the open space, through every nook Of the wide area, twinkles, is alive With heads; the midway region and above Is thronged with staring pictures, and huge scrolls, Dumb proclamations of the Prodigies! With chattering monkeys dangling from their poles, And children whirling in their roundabouts; With those that stretch the neck, and strain the eyes; And crack the voice in rivalship, the crowd Inviting; with buffoons against buffoons Grimacing, writhing, screaming, him who grinds The hurdy-gurdy, at the fiddle weaves,

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256â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Rattles the salt-box, thumps the Kettle-drum; And him who at the trumpet puffs his cheeks; The silver-collared Negro with his timbrel; Equestrians, tumblers, women, girls, and boys, Blue-breeched, pink-vested, with high-towering plumes. —All moveables of wonder from all parts Are here, Albinos, painted-Indians, Dwarfs, The Horse of Knowledge, and the learned Pig, The Stone-eater, the Man that swallows fire— Giants; Ventriloquists, the Invisible-girl, The Bust that speaks, and moves its goggling eyes, The Wax-work, Clock-work, all the marvellous craft Of modern Merlins, Wild-beasts, Puppet-shews, All out-o’th’-way, far-fetched, perverted things, All freaks of Nature, all Promethean thoughts Of man; his dullness, madness, and their feats, All jumbled up together, to compose A Parliament of Monsters. Tents and Booths, Meanwhile, as if the whole were one vast mill, Are vomiting, receiving, on all sides, Men, Women, three-years’ Children, Babes in arms. Oh blank confusion! true epitome Of what the mighty City is herself To thousands upon thousands of her Sons, Living amid the same perpetual whirl Of trivial objects, melted and reduced To one identity, by differences That have no law, no meaning, and no end; Oppression under which even highest minds Must labour, whence the strongest are not free! But though the picture weary out the eye, By nature an unmanageable sight, It is not wholly so to him who looks In steadiness, who hath among least things An undersense of greatest; sees the parts As parts, but with a feeling of the whole. This, of all acquisitions first, awaits On sundry and most widely different modes Of education; nor with least delight

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 257 On that through which I passed. Attention springs, And comprehensiveness and memory flow, From early converse with the works of God, Among all regions; chiefly where appear Most obviously simplicity and power. Think, how the everlasting streams and woods, Stretched and still stretching far and wide, exalt The roving Indian: on his desart sands What grandeur not unfelt, what pregnant show Of beauty meets the sun-burnt Arab’s eye! And as the Sea propels from Zone to Zone Its currents, magnifies its Shoals of life Beyond all compass spread, and sends aloft Armies of Clouds, even so, its powers and aspects Shape for Mankind, by principles as fixed, The views and aspirations of the Soul To majesty. Like Virtue have the forms Perennial of the ancient hills; nor less The changeful language of their countenances Quickens the slumbering mind, and aids the thoughts, However multitudinous, to move With order and relation. This, if still, As hitherto, in freedom I may speak, And the same perfect openness of mind, Not violating any just restraint, As may be hoped, of real modesty, This did I feel in London’s vast Domain; The Spirit of Nature was upon me there; The Soul of Beauty and enduring life Vouchsafed her inspiration; and diffused, Through meagre lines and colours, and the press Of self-destroying transitory things, Composure, and ennobling harmony. Book Eighth Retrospect, Love of Nature leading to Love of Man What sounds are those, Helvellyn, that are heard Up to thy summit? Through the depth of air Ascending, as if distance had the power

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258â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To make the sounds more audible; what Crowd Covers, or sprinkles o’er, yon Village green? Crowd seems it, solitary hill! to thee, Though but a little Family of Men, Shepherds and Tillers of the ground—betimes Assembled with their Children and their Wives, And here and there a Stranger interspersed. They hold a rustic Fair:—a festival Such as, on this side now and now on that, Repeated through his tributary Vales, Helvellyn, in the silence of his rest, Sees annually, if clouds towards either ocean Blown from their favorite resting-place, or mists Dissolved have left him an unshrouded head. Delightful day it is for all who dwell In this secluded Glen, and eagerly They give it welcome. Long ere heat of noon, From Byre or field the Kine were brought; the sheep Are penned in Cotes, the chaffering is begun. The Heifer lows, uneasy at the voice Of a new Master; bleat the Flocks aloud; Booths are there none; a Stall or two is here; A lame Man, or a blind, the one to beg, The other to make music; hither, too, From far, with Basket slung upon her arm Of Hawker’s wares, books, pictures, combs, and pins, Some aged Woman finds her way again, Year after year, a punctual Visitant! There also stands a Speech-maker by rote, Pulling the strings of his boxed raree-shew; And in the lapse of many years may come Prouder Itinerant, Mountebank, or He Whose wonders in a covered Wain lie hid. But One there is, the loveliest of them all, Some sweet Lass of the Valley, looking out For gains, and who that sees her would not buy? Fruits of her Father’s Orchard are her wares, And with the ruddy produce she walks round Among the crowd, half-pleased with, half-ashamed

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 259 Of her new office, blushing restlessly. The Children now are rich, for the old today Are generous as the young, and if, content With looking on, some ancient wedded Pair Sit in the shade together, while they gaze, “A cheerful smile unbends the wrinkled brow, The days departed start again to life, And all the scenes of Childhood reappear, Faint, but more tranquil, like the changing sun To him who slept at noon and wakes at eve.” Thus gaiety and cheerfulness prevail, Spreading from young to old, from old to young, And no one seems to want his part.—Immense Is the Recess, the circumambient World Magnificent by which they are embraced. They move about upon the soft green turf: How little they, they and their doings seem, And all that they can further or obstruct! Through utter weakness pitiably dear, As tender Infants are: and yet how great! For all things serve them: them the morning light Loves as it glistens on the silent rocks, And them the silent rocks, which now from high Look down upon them: the reposing Clouds, The wild Brooks prattling from invisible haunts, And old Helvellyn, conscious of the stir Which animates this day their calm abode. With deep devotion, Nature, did I feel, In that enormous City’s turbulent world Of men and things, what benefit lowed To Thee and those Domains of rural peace Where to the sense of beauty first my heart Was opened; tract more exquisitely fair Than that famed Paradise of ten thousand trees, Or Gehol’s matchless Gardens, for delight Of the Tartarian Dynasty, composed (Beyond that mighty Wall, not fabulous,

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  “These lines are from a descriptive Poem—‘Malvern Hills’—by one of Mr. Wordsworth’s oldest friends, Mr. Joseph Cottle.” This note appears in the first edition of The Prelude, 1850, prepared for the press by his nephew Christopher Wordsworth, Jr.

260â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth China’s stupendous mound) by patient toil Of myriads and boon Nature’s lavish help; There, in a clime from widest empire chosen, Fulfilling (could enchantment have done more?) A sumptuous dream of flowery lawns, with Domes Of pleasure sprinkled over, shady dells For Eastern Monasteries, sunny Mounts With temples crested, bridges, gondolas, Rocks, dens;—and groves of foliage taught to melt Into each other their obsequious hues, Vanished and vanishing in subtile chase, Too fine to be pursued; or standing forth In no discordant opposition, strong And gorgeous as the colors side by side Bedded among rich plumes of Tropic birds; And mountains over all, embracing all; And all the Landscape endlessly enriched With waters running, falling, or asleep. But lovelier far than this the Paradise Where I was reared; in Nature’s primitive gifts Favoured no less, and more to every sense Delicious, seeing that the sun and sky, The elements, and seasons as they change, Do find a worthy fellow-labourer there; Man free, man working for himself, with choice Of time, and place, and object; by his wants, His comforts, native occupations, cares, Chearfully led to individual ends Or social, and still followed by a train Unwooed, unthought-of even, simplicity And beauty, and inevitable grace. Yea, when a glimpse of those imperial bowers Would to a Child be transport over-great, When but a half-hour’s roam through such a place Would leave behind a dance of images That shall break in upon his sleep for weeks; Even then the common haunts of the green earth And ordinary interests of man Which they embosom, all without regard

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 261 As both may seem, are fastening on the heart Insensibly, each with the other’s help. For me, when my affections first were led From kindred, friends, and playmates, to partake Love for the human creature’s absolute self, That noticeable kindliness of heart Sprang out of fountains, there abounding most, Where sovereign Nature dictated the tasks And occupations which her beauty adorned; And Shepherds were the Men that pleased me first. Not such as Saturn ruled ’mid Latian wilds, With laws and arts so tempered, that their lives Left, even to us toiling in this late day, A bright tradition of the golden age; Not such as, ’mid Arcadian fastnesses Sequestered, handed down among themselves Felicity in Grecian song renowned;— Nor such as, when an adverse fate had driven From house and home the courtly Band, whose fortunes Entered, with Shakespeare’s genius, the wild woods Of Arden, amid sunshine or in shade, Culled the best fruits of Time’s uncounted hours, Ere Phœbe sighed for the false Ganymede; Or there, where Perdita and Florizel Together danced, Queen of the feast and King; Nor such as Spenser fabled.— True it is That I had heard (what he perhaps had seen) Of Maids at sunrise, bringing in from far Their May-bush, and along the street in flocks Parading with a Song of taunting rhymes Aimed at the Laggards slumbering within doors; Had also heard, from those who yet remembered, Tales of the May-pole dance, and wreaths that decked Porch, door-way, or Kirk-pillar; and of Youths, Each with his Maid, before the sun was up, By annual custom issuing forth in troops To drink the Waters of some sainted Well And hang it round with garlands. Love survives, But for such purpose flowers no longer grow.

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262â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The times too sage, perhaps too proud, have dropped These lighter graces; and the rural ways And manners which my childhood looked upon Were the unluxuriant produce of a life Intent on little but substantial needs, Yet rich in beauty, beauty that was felt. But images of danger and distress, Man suffering among awful Powers and Forms; Of this I heard and saw enough to make Imagination restless; nor was free Myself from frequent perils, nor were tales Wanting, the tragedies of former times, Hazards and strange escapes, of which the rocks Immutable, and everflowing streams, Where’er I roamed, were speaking monuments. Smooth life had Flock and Shepherd in old time, Long springs and tepid winters, on the banks Of delicate Galesus; and no less Those scattered along Adria’s myrtle shores; Smooth life had Herdsman, and his snow-white Herd, To triumphs and to sacrificial Rites Devoted, on the inviolable Stream Of rich Clitumnus; and the Goatherd lived As calmly, underneath the pleasant brows Of cool Lucretilis, where the pipe was heard Of Pan, invisible God, thrilling the rocks With tutelary music, from all harm The Fold protecting. I myself, mature In manhood then, have seen a pastoral Tract Like one of these, where Fancy might run wild, Though under skies less generous, less serene. There, for her own delight, had Nature framed A Pleasure-ground, diffused a fair expanse Of level pasture, islanded with groves And banked with woody risings; but the plain Endless; here opening widely out, and there Shut up in lesser lakes or beds of lawn And intricate recesses, creek, or bay Sheltered within a shelter, where at large

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 263 The Shepherd strays, a rolling hut his home. Thither he comes with spring-time, there abides All summer, and at sunrise ye may hear His flagelet to liquid notes of love Attuned, or spritely fife resounding far. Nook is there none, nor strait of that vast space Where passage opens, but the same shall have In turn its Visitant, telling there his hours In unlaborious pleasure, with no task More toilsome than to carve a beechen bowl For Spring or Fountain, which the Traveller finds When through the region he pursues at will His devious course. A glimpse of such sweet life I saw when, from the melancholy walls Of Goslar, once Imperial! I renewed My daily walk along that wide Champaign, That, reaching to her Gates, spreads east and west, And northwards, from beneath the mountainous verge Of the Hercynian forest. Yet hail to You, Moors, mountains, headlands, and Ye hollow Vales, Ye long deep channels for the Atlantic’s voice, Powers of my native region.— Ye that seize The heart with firmer grasp! Your snows and streams Ungovernable, and your terrifying winds That howl so dismally for him who treads, Companionless, your awful Solitudes! There ’tis the Shepherd’s task, the winter long, To wait upon the Storms: of their approach Sagacious, into sheltering coves he drives His flock, and thither from the homestead bears A toilsome burden up the craggy ways, And deals it out, their regular nourishment Strewn on the frozen snow. And when the Spring Looks out, and all the pastures dance with lambs, And when the Flock, with warmer weather, climbs Higher and higher, him his office leads To watch their goings, whatsoever track The wanderers chuse. For this he quits his home At day-spring, and no sooner doth the sun

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264â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Begin to strike him with a fire-like heat Than he lies down upon some shining rock And breakfasts with his Dog. When they have stolen, As is their wont, a pittance from strict time, For rest, not needed, or exchange of love, Then from his couch he starts; and now his feet Crush out a livelier fragrance from the flowers Of lowly thyme, by Nature’s skill enwrought In the wild turf: the lingering dews of morn Smoke round him, as from hill to hill he hies, His staff portending like a Hunter’s Spear, Or by its aid leaping from crag to crag And o’er the brawling beds of unbridged streams. Philosophy, methinks, at Fancy’s call Might deign to follow him through what he does Or sees in his day’s march; himself he feels, In those vast regions where his service lies, A Freeman; wedded to his life of hope And hazard, and hard labour interchanged With that majestic indolence so dear To native Man. A rambling School-boy, thus I felt his presence in his own domain As of a Lord and Master; or a Power Or Genius, under Nature, under God Presiding; and severest solitude Had more commanding looks when he was there. When up the lonely brooks on rainy days Angling I went, or trod the trackless hills By mists bewildered, suddenly mine eyes Have glanced upon him distant a few steps, In size a Giant, stalking through thick fog, His sheep like Greenland bears; or, as he stepped Beyond the boundary line of some hill-shadow, His form hath flashed upon me, glorified By the deep radiance of the setting sun: Or him have I descried in distant sky, A solitary object and sublime, Above all height! like an aerial cross Stationed alone upon a spiry rock

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 265 Of the Chartreuse, for worship. Thus was Man Ennobled outwardly before my sight, And thus my heart was early introduced To an unconscious love and reverence Of human nature; hence the human Form To me became an index of delight, Of grace, and honor, power, and worthiness. Meanwhile this Creature, spiritual almost As those of Books, but more exalted far; Far more of an imaginative Form Than the gay Corin of the groves, who lives For his own fancies, or to dance by the hour In coronal, with Phillis in the midst— Was, for the purposes of Kind, a Man With the most common; husband, father; learned, Could teach, admonish, suffered with the rest From vice and folly, wretchedness and fear; Of this I little saw, cared less for it; But something must have felt. Call ye these appearances Which I beheld of Shepherds in my youth, This sanctity of Nature given to man— A shadow, a delusion, ye who pore On the dead letter, miss the spirit of things; Whose truth is not a motion or a shape Instinct with vital functions, but a Block Or waxen image which yourselves have made, And ye adore. But blessed be the God Of Nature and of Man, that this was so, That men before my inexperienced eyes Did first present themselves thus purified, Removed, and to a distance that was fit. And so we all of us in some degree Are led to knowledge, whencesoever led And howsoever; were it otherwise, And we found evil fast as we find good In our first years, or think that it is found, How could the innocent heart bear up and live? But doubly fortunate my lot; not here

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266â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Alone, that something of a better life Perhaps was round me than it is the privilege Of most to move in, but that first I looked At Man through objects that were great or fair, First communed with him by their help. And thus Was founded a sure safeguard and defence Against the weight of meanness, selfish cares, Coarse manners, vulgar passions, that beat in On all sides from the ordinary world In which we traffic. Starting from this point, I had my face turned tow’rd the truth, began With an advantage furnished by that kind Of prepossession without which the soul Receives no knowledge that can bring forth good, No genuine insight ever comes to her. From the restraint of over-watchful eyes Preserved, I moved about, year after year Happy, and now most thankful, that my walk Was guarded from too early intercourse With the deformities of crowded life, And those ensuing laughters and contempts Self-pleasing, which, if we would wish to think With a due reverence on earth’s rightful Lord, Here placed to be the Inheritor of heaven, Will not permit us; but pursue the mind That to devotion willingly would rise, Into the Temple, and the Temple’s heart. Yet deem not, Friend, that human-kind with me Thus early took a place preeminent; Nature herself was at this unripe time But secondary to my own pursuits And animal activities, and all Their trivial pleasures: and when these had drooped And gradually expired, and Nature, prized For her own sake, became my joy, even then— And upwards through late youth, until not less Than two and twenty summers had been told— Was Man in my affections and regards Subordinate to her; her visible Forms

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 267 And viewless agencies: a passion she, A rapture often, and immediate love Ever at hand; he only a delight Occasional, an accidental grace, His hour being not yet come. Far less had then The inferior Creatures, beast or bird, attuned (Though they had long been carefully observed) My Spirit to that gentleness of love, Won from me those minute obeisances Of tenderness, which I may number now With my first blessings. Nevertheless on these The light of beauty did not fall in vain, Or grandeur circumfuse them to no end. But when that first poetic Faculty Of plain imagination and severe, No longer a mute influence of the soul, Ventured at some rash Muse’s earnest call To try her strength among harmonious words, And to book-notions and the rules of art Did knowingly conform itself; there came Among the simple shapes of human life A wilfulness of fancy and conceit; And Nature and her objects beautified These fictions, as in some sort, in their turn, They burnished her. From touch of this new Power Nothing was safe: the Elder tree that grew Beside the well known charnel-house had then A dismal look: the yew-tree had its ghost That took his Station there, for ornament; The dignities of plain occurrence then Were tasteless, and truth’s golden mean, a point Where no sufficient pleasure could be found. Then if a Widow, staggering with the blow Of her distress, was known to have turned her steps To the cold grave in which her Husband slept, One night, or haply more than one, through pain Or half insensate impotence of mind, The fact was caught at greedily, and there She must be visitant the whole year through,

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268â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Wetting the turf with never-ending tears. Through quaint obliquities I might pursue These cravings: when the Fox-glove, one by one, Upwards through every Stage of the tall stem Had shed beside the public way its bells, And stood of all dismantled, save the last Left at the tapering ladder’s top, that seemed To bend as doth a slender blade of grass Tipped with a rain drop; Fancy loved to seat Beneath the plant, despoiled but crested still With this last relic, soon itself to fall, Some Vagrant Mother, whose arch Little-ones, All unconcerned by her dejected plight, Laughed, as with rival eagerness their hands Gathered the purple cups that round them lay Strewing the turf’s green slope. A diamond light (Whene’er the summer sun, declining, smote A smooth rock wet with constant springs) was seen Sparkling from out a copse-clad bank that rose Fronting our Cottage. Oft beside the hearth Seated with open door, often and long Upon this restless lustre have I gazed That made my fancy restless as itself. ’Twas now for me a burnished silver shield Suspended over a Knight’s tomb, who lay Inglorious, buried in the dusky wood: An entrance now into some magic cave Or Palace built by Fairies of the Rock. Nor could I have been bribed to disenchant The Spectacle, by visiting the Spot. Thus wilful fancy, in no hurtful mood, Engrafted far-fetched Shapes on feelings bred By pure imagination: busy Power She was, and with her ready Pupil turned Instinctively to human passions, then Least understood. Yet, ’mid the fervent swarm Of these vagaries, with an eye so rich As mine was through the bounty of a grand

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 269 And lovely region, I had forms distinct To steady me: each airy thought revolved Round a substantial centre which at once Incited it to motion, and controlled. I did not pine like One in cities bred, As was thy melancholy lot, dear Friend! Great Spirit as thou art, in endless dreams Of sickliness, disjoining, joining things Without the light of knowledge. Where the harm If, when the Woodman languished with disease Induced by sleeping nightly on the ground Within his sod-built Cabin, Indian-wise, I called the pangs of disappointed love And all the sad etcetera of the wrong To help him to his grave? Meanwhile the Man, If not already from the woods retired To die at home, was haply, as I knew, Withering by slow degrees, ’mid gentle airs, Birds, running Streams, and hills so beautiful On golden evenings, while the charcoal Pile Breathed up its smoke, an image of his ghost Or spirit that full soon must take her flight. Nor shall we not be tending towards that point Of sound humanity to which our Tale Leads, though by sinuous ways, if here I shew How Fancy, in a season when she wove Those slender cords, to guide the unconscious Boy For the Man’s sake, could feed at Nature’s call Some pensive musings which might well beseem Maturer years. A grove there is whose boughs Stretch from the western marge of Thurston-mere, With length of shade so thick that whoso glides Along the line of low-roofed water moves As in a cloister. Once, while in that shade Loitering, I watched the golden beams of light Flung from the setting sun, as they reposed In silent beauty on the naked ridge Of a high eastern hill. Thus flowed my thoughts

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270â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In a pure stream of words fresh from the heart: “Dear native Region, wheresoe’er shall close My mortal course, there will I think on you: Dying, will cast on you a backward look, Even as this setting sun (albeit the Vale Is no where touched by one memorial gleam) Doth with the fond remains of his last power Still linger, and a farewell lustre sheds On the dear mountain-tops where first he rose.” Enough of humble arguments! recal, My Song, those high emotions which thy voice Has heretofore made known, that bursting forth Of sympathy, inspiring and inspired, When every where a vital pulse was felt, And all the several frames of things, like stars Through every magnitude distinguishable, Shone mutually indebted, or half lost Each in the other’s blaze, a galaxy Of life and glory. In the midst stood Man, Outwardly, inwardly contemplated, As of all visible natures crown, though born Of dust and Kindred to the worm, a Being, Both in perception and discernment, first In every capability of rapture, Through the divine effect of power and love, As, more than any thing we know, instinct With Godhead, and by reason and by will Acknowledging dependency sublime. Erelong, the lonely Mountains left, I moved Begirt from day to day with temporal shapes Of vice and folly thrust upon my view, Objects of sport, and ridicule, and scorn, Manners and characters discriminate, And little bustling passions that eclipsed, As well they might, the impersonated thought, The Idea or abstraction of the Kind. An Idler among academic Bowers, Such was my new condition, as at large Has been set forth; yet here the vulgar light

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 271 Of present, actual, superficial life, Gleaming through coloring of other times, Old usages, and local privilege, Was welcome, softened, if not solemnized; This notwithstanding, being brought more near To vice and guilt, forerunning wretchedness, I trembled—thought at times of human life With an indefinite terror and dismay, Such as the storms and angry elements Had bred in me, but gloomier far, a dim Analogy to uproar and misrule, Disquiet, danger, and obscurity. —It might be told (but wherefore speak of things Common to all?) that, seeing, I was led Gravely to ponder, judging between good And evil, not as for the mind’s delight But for her guidance, one who was to act, As sometimes to the best of feeble means I did, by human sympathy impelled: . And through dislike and most offensive pain Was to the truth conducted; of this faith Never forsaken, that by acting well And understanding, I should learn to love, The end of life, and every thing we know. Grave Teacher! stern Preceptress! for at times Thou canst put on an aspect most severe; London, to thee I willingly return. Erewhile my verse played idly with the flowers Enwrought upon thy mantle, satisfied With that amusement, and a simple look Of child-like inquisition now and then Cast upwards on thy countenance, to detect Some inner meanings which might harbour there. But how could I in mood so light indulge, Keeping such fresh remembrance of the day When, having thridded the long labyrinth Of the suburban villages, I first Entered thy vast Dominion? On the roof Of an itinerant Vehicle I sate,

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272â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With vulgar men about me, trivial forms Of houses, pavement, streets, of men and things; Mean shapes on every side: but at the instant When to myself it fairly might be said, The threshold now is overpassed,—(how strange That aught external to the living mind Should have such mighty sway! Yet so it was) A weight of ages did at once descend Upon my heart, no thought embodied, no Distinct remembrances; but weight and power,— Power growing under weight: alas! I feel That I am trifling: ’twas a moment’s pause— All that took place within me came and went As in a moment, yet with Time it dwells And grateful memory, as a thing divine. The curious Traveller who from open day Hath passed with torches into some huge cave, The Grotto of Antiparos, or the Den In old time haunted by that Danish Witch Yordas, he looks around and sees the Vault Widening on all sides; sees, or thinks he sees, Erelong the massy roof above his head, That instantly unsettles and recedes,— Substance and shadow, light and darkness, all Commingled, making up a Canopy Of shapes and forms, and tendencies to shape That shift and vanish, change and interchange Like Spectres, ferment silent and sublime! That, after a short space, works less and less Till, every effort, every motion gone, The scene before him stands in perfect view Exposed, and lifeless as a written book! —But let him pause awhile, and look again, And a new quickening shall succeed, at first Beginning timidly, then creeping fast, Till the whole Cave, so late a senseless mass, Busies the eye with images and forms Boldly assembled,—here is shadowed forth From the projections, wrinkles, cavities,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 273 A variegated landscape, there the shape Of some gigantic Warrior clad in mail, The ghostly Semblance of a hooded Monk, Veiled Nun, or Pilgrim resting on his staff,— Strange congregation! yet not slow to meet Eyes that perceive through Minds that can inspire. Even in such sort had I at first been moved, Nor otherwise continued to be moved, As I explored the vast metropolis, Fount of my Country’s destiny and the World’s; That great Emporium, Chronicle at once And burial-place of passions, and their home Imperial, their chief living residence. With strong sensations teeming as it did Of past and present, such a place must needs Have pleased me, seeking knowledge at that time Far less than craving power, yet knowledge came, Sought or unsought, and influxes of power Came of themselves, or at her call derived In fits of kindliest apprehensiveness From all sides, when whate’er was in itself Capacious found, or seemed to find, in me A correspondent amplitude of mind; Such is the strength and glory of our Youth. The human nature unto which I felt That I belonged, and reverenced with love, Was not a punctual Presence, but a spirit Diffused through time and space, with aid derived Of evidence from monuments, erect, Prostrate, or leaning towards their common rest In earth, the widely scattered wreck sublime Of vanished Nations, or more clearly drawn From Books, and what they picture and record. ’Tis true the History of our native Land, With those of Greece compared and popular Rome, And in our high-wrought modern Narratives Stript of their harmonizing soul, the life Of manners and familiar incidents, Had never much delighted me. And less

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274â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Than other Intellects had mine been used To lean upon extrinsic circumstance Of record or tradition: but a sense Of what in the great City had been done And suffered, and was doing, suffering still, Weighed with me, could support the test of thought, And, in despite of all that had gone by, Or was departing never to return, There I conversed with majesty and power Like independent Nature’s. Hence the place Was thronged with Impregnations, like the Wilds, In which my early feelings had been nursed, Bare hills and vallies—full of caverns, rocks, And audible seclusions, dashing lakes, Echoes and waterfalls, and pointed crags That into music touch the passing wind. Here then a young Imagination found No uncongenial element, could here Among new objects serve or give command Even as the heart’s occasions might require To forward Reason’s else too scrupulous march. The effect was still more elevated views Of human nature. Neither vice nor guilt, Debasement undergone by body or mind, Nor all the misery forced upon my sight, Misery not lightly passed, but sometimes scanned Most feelingly, could overthrow my trust In what we may become, induce belief That I was ignorant, had been falsely taught, A Solitary, who with vain conceits Had been inspired, and walked about in dreams. From those sad scenes when meditation turned, Lo! every thing that was indeed divine Retained its purity inviolate, Nay brighter shone, by this portentous gloom Set off; such opposition as aroused The mind of Adam, yet in Paradise, Though fallen from bliss, when in the East he saw Darkness ere day’s mid course, and morning light

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 275 More orient in the western cloud, that drew O’er the blue firmament a radiant white, Descending slow, with something heavenly fraught. Add also that among the multitudes Of that huge City, oftentimes was seen Affectingly set forth, more than elsewhere Is possible, the unity of man, One spirit over ignorance and vice Predominant, in good and evil hearts One sense for moral judgments, as one eye For the sun’s light. The soul, when smitten thus By a sublime idea, whencesoe’er Vouchsafed for union or communion, feeds On the pure bliss, and takes her rest with God. Thus, from a very early age, O Friend! My thoughts, by slow gradations, had been drawn To human-kind, and to the good and ill Of human life; Nature had led me on, And oft amid the “busy hum” I seemed To travel independent of her help, As if I had forgotten her; but no, The world of human-kind outweighed not hers In my habitual thoughts; the scale of love, Though filling daily, still was light compared With that in which her mighty objects lay.

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Book Ninth Residence in France Even as a River—partly (it might seem) Yielding to old remembrances, and swayed In part by fear to shape a way direct That would engulph him soon in the ravenous Sea— Turns, and will measure back his course, far back, Seeking the very regions which he crossed In his first outset; so have we, my Friend! Turned and returned with intricate delay. Or as a Traveller, who has gained the brow Of some aerial Down, while there he halts For breathing-time, is tempted to review

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276â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The region left behind him; and if aught Deserving notice have escaped regard, Or been regarded with too careless eye, Strives, from that height, with one, and yet one more Last look, to make the best amends he may, So have we lingered. Now we start afresh With courage, and new hope risen on our toil. Fair greetings to this shapeless eagerness, Whene’er it comes! needful in work so long, Thrice needful to the argument which now Awaits us! Oh, how much unlike the past! Free as a Colt, at pasture on the hill, I ranged at large through London’s wide Domain Month after Month. Obscurely did I live, Not seeking frequent intercourse with men By literature, or elegance, or rank Distinguished. Scarcely was a year thus spent Ere I forsook the crowded Solitude; With less regret for its luxurious pomp And all the nicely-guarded shews of Art, Than for the humble Bookstalls in the Streets, Exposed to eye and hand where’er I turned. —France lured me forth, the realm that I had crossed So lately, journeying toward the snow-clad Alps. But now relinquishing the scrip and staff And all enjoyment which the summer sun Sheds round the steps of those who meet the day With motion constant as his own, I went Prepared to sojourn in a pleasant Town Washed by the current of the stately Loire. Through Paris lay my readiest course, and there Sojourning a few days, I visited In haste each spot, of old or recent fame, The latter chiefly; from the field of Mars Down to the suburbs of St Anthony; And from Mont Martyr southward to the Dome Of Genevieve. In both her clamorous Halls, The National Synod and the Jacobins, I saw the Revolutionary Power

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 277 Toss like a Ship at anchor, rocked by storms; The Arcades I traversed, in the Palace huge Of Orleans, coasted round and round the line Of Tavern, Brothel, Gaming-house, and Shop, Great rendezvous of worst and best, the walk Of all who had a purpose, or had not; I stared, and listened with a Stranger’s ears To Hawkers and Haranguers, hubbub wild! And hissing Factionists, with ardent eyes, In knots, or pairs, or single. Not a look Hope takes, or Doubt or Fear are forced to wear, But seemed there present, and I scanned them all, Watched every gesture uncontrollable Of anger, and vexation, and despite, All side by side, and struggling face to face With Gaiety and dissolute Idleness. — Where silent zephyrs sported with the dust Of the Bastille, I sate in the open sun, And from the rubbish gathered up a stone And pocketed the Relic in the guise Of an Enthusiast; yet, in honest truth, I looked for Something that I could not find, Affecting more emotion than I felt; For ’tis most certain that these various sights, However potent their first shock, with me Appeared to recompence the Traveller’s pains Less than the painted Magdalene of Le Brun, A Beauty exquisitely wrought, with hair Dishevelled, gleaming eyes, and rueful cheek Pale, and bedropp’d with everflowing tears. But hence to my more permanent Abode I hasten; there by novelties in speech, Domestic manners, customs, gestures, looks, And all the attire of ordinary life, Attention was engrossed; and, thus amused, I stood ’mid those concussions unconcerned, Tranquil almost, and careless as a flower Glassed in a green-house, or a Parlour shrub That spreads its leaves in unmolested peace

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278â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth While every bush and tree, the country through, Is shaking to the roots; indifference this Which may seem strange; but I was unprepared With needful knowledge, had abruptly passed Into a theatre whose stage was filled, And busy with an action far advanced. Like Others I had skimmed, and sometimes read With care, the master pamphlets of the day; Nor wanted such half-insight as grew wild Upon that meagre soil, helped out by talk And public news; but having never seen A Chronicle that might suffice to shew Whence the main Organs of the public Power Had sprung, their transmigrations when and how Accomplished, giving thus unto events A form and body; all things were to me Loose and disjointed, and the affections left Without a vital interest. At that time, Moreover, the first storm was overblown, And the strong hand of outward violence Locked up in quiet. For myself, I fear Now, in connection with so great a Theme, To speak (as I must be compelled to do) Of one so unimportant; night by night Did I frequent the formal haunts of men Whom, in the City, privilege of birth Sequestered from the rest: societies Polished in Arts, and in punctilio versed; Whence, and from deeper causes, all discourse Of good and evil of the time was shunned With scrupulous care: but these restrictions soon Proved tedious, and I gradually withdrew Into a noisier world, and thus erelong Became a Patriot; and my heart was all Given to the People, and my love was theirs. A Band of military Officers Then stationed in the City were the chief Of my associates: some of these wore swords That had been seasoned in the Wars, and all

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 279 Were men well born; the Chivalry of France. In age and temper differing, they had yet One spirit ruling in each heart, alike (Save only one, hereafter to be named) Were bent upon undoing what was done: This was their rest and only hope, therewith No fear had they of bad becoming worse; For worst to them was come; nor would have stirred, Or deemed it worth a moment’s thought to stir, In any thing, save only as the act Looked thitherward. One, reckoning by years, Was in the prime of manhood, and erewhile He had sate Lord in many tender hearts, Though heedless of such honors now, and changed: His temper was quite mastered by the times, And they had blighted him, had eat away The beauty of his person, doing wrong Alike to body and to mind: his port, Which once had been erect and open, now Was stooping and contracted, and a face Endowed by Nature with her fairest gifts Of symmetry, and light, and bloom, expressed As much as any that was ever seen A ravage out of season, made by thoughts Unhealthy and vexatious. With the hour That from the Press of Paris duly brought Its freight of public news, the fever came, A punctual Visitant, to shake this Man, Disarmed his voice and fanned his yellow cheek Into a thousand colours: while he read Or mused, his sword was haunted by his touch Continually, like an uneasy place In his own body. ’Twas in truth an hour Of universal ferment; mildest men Were agitated; and commotions, strife Of passion and opinion, filled the walls Of peaceful houses with unquiet sounds. The soil of common life was at that time Too hot to tread upon. Oft said I then,

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280â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And not then only, “What a mockery this Of history, the past and that to come! Now do I feel how all men are deceived, Reading of Nations and their works, in faith, Faith given to vanity and emptiness; Oh! laughter for the Page that would reflect To future times the face of what now is!” The Land all swarmed with passion, like a Plain Devoured by locusts;—Carra, Gorcas; add A hundred other names, forgotten now, Nor to be heard of more, yet they were Powers Like earthquakes, shocks repeated day by day, And felt through every nook of town and field. Such was the state of things. Meanwhile the chief Of my Associates stood prepared for flight To augment the band of Emigrants in Arms Upon the Borders of the Rhine, and leagued With foreign foes mustered for instant War. This was their undisguised intent, and they Were waiting with the whole of their desires The moment to depart. An Englishman, Born in a land whose very name appeared To licence some unruliness of mind, A Stranger, with Youth’s further privilege, And the indulgence that a half-learnt speech Wins from the Courteous; I, who had been else Shunned and not tolerated, freely lived With these Defenders of the Crown, and talked, And heard their notions, nor did they disdain The wish to bring me over to their cause. â•… But though untaught by thinking or by books To reason well of polity or law, And nice distinctions, then on every tongue, Of natural rights and civil; and to acts Of Nations and their passing interests (If with unworldly ends and aims compared) Almost indifferent, even the Historian’s Tale Prizing but little otherwise than I prized

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 281 Tales of the Poets, as it made the heart Beat high and filled the fancy with fair forms, Old Heroes and their sufferings and their deeds; Yet in the regal Sceptre, and the pomp Of Orders and Degrees, I nothing found Then, or had ever, even in crudest Youth, That dazzled me: but rather what I mourned And ill could brook, beholding that the best Ruled not, and feeling that they ought to rule. For, born in a poor District, and which yet Retaineth more of ancient homeliness Than any other nook of English ground, It was my fortune scarcely to have seen Through the whole tenor of my School-day time The face of One, who, whether boy or man, Was vested with attention or respect Through claims of wealth or blood; nor was it least Of many benefits, in later years Derived from academic institutes And rules, that they held something up to view Of a Republic, where all stood thus far Upon equal ground, that we were brothers all In honor, as in one community, Scholars and Gentlemen; where, furthermore, Distinction lay open to all that came, And wealth and titles were in less esteem Than talents, worth, and prosperous industry. Add unto this, subservience from the first To Presences of God’s mysterious power Made manifest in Nature’s sovereignty, And fellowship with venerable books, To sanction the proud workings of the Soul And mountain liberty. It could not be But that one tutored thus should look with awe Upon the faculties of man, receive Gladly the highest promises, and hail As best the government of equal rights And individual worth. And hence, O Friend, If at the first great outbreak I rejoiced

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282â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Less than might well befit my Youth, the cause In part lay here, that unto me the events Seemed nothing out of Nature’s certain course, A gift that rather was come late than soon. No wonder then if Advocates like these, Inflamed by passion, blind with prejudice, And stung with injury, at this riper day, Were impotent to make my hopes put on The shape of theirs, my understanding bend In honor to their honor,—zeal which yet Had slumbered, now in opposition burst Forth like a polar summer: every word They uttered was a dart, by counter-winds Blown back upon themselves; their reason seemed Confusion-stricken by a higher Power Than human understanding, their discourse Maimed, spiritless; and, in their weakness strong, I triumphed. Meantime, day by day, the roads Were crowded with the bravest Youth of France And all the promptest of her spirits, linked In gallant Soldiership, and posting on To meet the War, upon her Frontier Bounds. Yet at this very moment do tears start Into mine eyes: I do not say I weep— I wept not then,—but tears have dimmed my sight In memory of the farewells of that time, Domestic severings, female fortitude At dearest separation, patriot love And self-devotion, and terrestrial hope Encouraged with a martyr’s confidence; Even files of Strangers merely, seen but once And for a moment, men from far with sound Of music, martial tunes, and banners spread, Entering the City, here and there a face Or person singled out among the rest, Yet still a Stranger and beloved as such; Even by these passing spectacles my heart Was oftentimes uplifted, and they seemed

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 283 Arguments sent from heaven, to prove the cause Good, pure, which no one could stand up against Who was not lost, abandoned, selfish, proud, Mean, miserable, wilfully depraved, Hater perverse of equity and truth. Among that Band of Officers, was One, Already hinted at, of other mold, A Patriot, thence rejected by the rest, And with an oriental loathing spurned, As of a different Cast. A meeker Man Than this lived never, nor a more benign, Meek, though enthusiastic. Injuries Made Him more gracious, and his nature then Did breathe its sweetness out most sensibly As aromatic flowers on Alpine turf When foot hath crushed them. He through the events Of that great change wandered in perfect faith, As through a Book, an old Romance or Tale Of Fairy, or some dream of actions wrought Behind the summer clouds. By birth he ranked With the most noble, but unto the Poor Among mankind he was in service bound As by some tie invisible, oaths professed To a religious order. Man he loved As Man; and, to the mean and the obscure And all the homely in their homely works, Transferred a courtesy which had no air Of condescension; but did rather seem A passion and a gallantry, like that Which he, a Soldier, in his idler day Had paid to Woman: somewhat vain he was, Or seemed so, yet it was not vanity, But fondness, and a kind of radiant joy Diffused around him while he was intent On works of love or freedom, or revolved Complacently the progress of a Cause Whereof he was a part; yet this was meek And placid, and took nothing from the man That was delightful: oft in solitude

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284â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With him did I discourse about the end Of civil government, and its wisest forms, Of ancient loyalty, and chartered rights, Custom and habit, novelty and change, Of self-respect, and virtue in the Few For patrimonial honor set apart, And ignorance in the labouring Multitude. For he, to all intolerance indisposed, Balanced these contemplations in his mind; And I, who at that time was scarcely dipped Into the turmoil, bore a sounder judgement Than later days allowed; carried about me, With less alloy to its integrity, The experience of past ages, as through help Of Books and common life it makes sure way To youthful minds, by objects over near Not pressed upon, nor dazzled or misled By struggling with the Crowd for present ends. But though not deaf, nor obstinate to find Error without excuse upon the side Of them who strove against us, more delight We took, and let this freely be confessed, In painting to ourselves the miseries Of royal Courts, and that voluptuous life Unfeeling, where the Man who is of Soul The meanest, thrives the most, where dignity, True personal dignity, abideth not; A light, a cruel, and vain world, cut off From the natural inlets of just sentiment, From lowly sympathy, and chastening truth; Where Good and Evil interchange their names, And thirst for bloody spoils abroad is paired With vice at home. We added dearest themes, Man and his noble nature, as it is The gift which God has placed within his power, His blind desires and steady faculties Capable of clear truth, the one to break Bondage, the other to build liberty On firm foundations, making social life,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 285 Through knowledge spreading and imperishable, As just in regulation, and as pure As individual in the wise and good. —We summoned up the honorable deeds Of ancient Story, thought of each bright spot That could be found in all recorded time, Of truth preserved, and error passed away, Of single Spirits that catch the flame from Heaven, And how the multitudes of men will feed And fan each other, thought of Sects, how keen They are to put the appropriate nature on, Triumphant over every obstacle Of custom, language, Country, love, and hate, And what they do and suffer for their creed, How far they travel, and how long endure, How quickly mighty Nations have been formed From least beginnings, how, together locked By new opinions, scattered tribes have made One body, spreading wide as clouds in heaven. To aspirations then of our own minds Did we appeal; and finally beheld A living confirmation of the whole Before us, in a People from the depth Of shameful imbecility upris’n, Fresh as the morning star: elate we looked Upon their virtues, saw in rudest men Self-sacrifice the firmest, generous love And continence of mind, and sense of right Uppermost in the midst of fiercest strife. Oh! sweet it is, in academic Groves Or such retirement, Friend! as we have known In the green dales beside our Rotha’s Stream, Greta, or Derwent, or some nameless Rill, To ruminate with interchange of talk On rational Liberty, and hope in Man, Justice and peace; but far more sweet such toil— Toil say I, for it leads to thoughts abstruse— If nature then be standing on the brink Of some great trial, and we hear the voice

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286â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of One devoted, One whom circumstance Hath called upon to embody his deep sense In action, give it outwardly a shape, And that of benediction to the world; Then doubt is not, and truth is more than truth,— A hope it is and a desire, a creed Of zeal, by an Authority divine Sanctioned, of danger, difficulty, or death. Such conversation under Attic Shades Did Dion hold with Plato, ripened thus For a Deliverer’s glorious Task, and such He, on that ministry already bound, Held with Eudemus and Timonides, Surrounded by Adventurers in Arms, When those two vessels with their daring Freight, For the Sicilian Tyrant’s overthrow Sailed from Zacynthus, philosophic War Led by Philosophers. With harder fate Though like ambition, such was he, O Friend! Of whom I speak, so Beaupuis (let the name Stand near the worthiest of Antiquity) Fashioned his life, and many a long discourse With like persuasion honored, we maintained; He, on his part, accoutred for the worst. He perished fighting in supreme command Upon the borders of the unhappy Loire, For Liberty, against deluded men, His fellow-countrymen, and yet most blessed In this, that he the Fate of later times Lived not to see, nor what we now behold Who have as ardent hearts as he had then. Along that very Loire, with festal mirth Resounding at all hours, and innocent yet Of civil slaughter, was our frequent walk; Or in wide Forests of continuous shade, Lofty and overarched, with open space Beneath the trees, clear footing many a mile— A solemn region. Oft, amid those haunts, From earnest dialogues I slipped in thought,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 287 And let remembrance steal to other times, When o’er those interwoven roots, moss-clad, And smooth as marble, or a waveless sea, Some Hermit, from his Cell forth-strayed, might pace In sylvan meditation, undisturbed; As on the pavement of a gothic Church Walks a lone Monk, when service hath expired, In peace and silence. But if e’er was heard, Heard though unseen, a devious Traveller Retiring, or approaching from afar, With speed, and echoes loud of trampling hoofs From the hard floor reverberated, then It was Angelica thundering through the woods Upon her Palfrey, or that gentle maid Erminia, fugitive as fair as She. Sometimes I saw, methought, a pair of Knights Joust underneath the trees, that as in storm Rocked high above their heads; anon, the din Of boisterous merriment, and music’s roar, In sudden proclamation! burst from haunt Of Satyrs in some viewless glade, with dance Rejoicing o’er a Female in the midst, A mortal Beauty, their unhappy Thrall; The width of those huge Forests, unto me A novel scene, did often in this way Master my fancy, while I wandered on With that revered Companion. And sometimes— When to a Convent in a meadow green, By a brook-side, we came, a roofless Pile, And not by reverential touch of Time Dismantled, but by violence abrupt, In spite of those heart-bracing colloquies, In spite of real fervor, and of that Less genuine and wrought up within myself— I could not but bewail a wrong so harsh, And for the matin bell to sound no more Grieved, and the twilight taper, and the Cross High on the topmost pinnacle, a sign (How welcome to the weary Traveller’s eyes!)

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288â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of hospitality and peaceful rest. And when the Partner of those varied walks Pointed upon occasion to the Site Of Romorentin, home of ancient Kings, To the imperial Edifice of Blois, Or to that rural Castle, name now slipped From my remembrance, where a Lady lodged By the first Francis wooed, and bound to him In chains of mutual passion; from the Tower, As a tradition of the Country tells, Practised to commune with her royal Knight By cressets and love-beacons, intercourse ’Twixt her high-seated Residence and his Far off at Chambord on the Plain beneath; Even here, though less than with the peaceful House Religious, ’mid those frequent monuments Of Kings, their vices, and their better deeds, Imagination, potent to inflame, At times, with virtuous wrath, and noble scorn, Did also often mitigate the force Of civic prejudice, the bigotry, So call it, of a youthful Patriot’s mind, And on these spots with many gleams I looked Of chivalrous delight. Yet not the less Hatred of absolute rule, where will of One Is law for all, and of that barren pride In them who, by immunities unjust, Between the Sovereign and the People stand, His helper and not theirs, laid stronger hold Daily upon me, mixed with pity too And love; for where hope is, there love will be For the abject multitude. And when we chanced One day to meet a hunger-bitten Girl Who crept along fitting her languid gait Unto a heifer’s motion, by a cord Tied to her arm, and picking thus from the lane Its sustenance, while the Girl with pallid hands Was busy knitting in a heartless mood Of solitude, and at the sight my Friend

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 289 In agitation said, “’Tis against that, That we are fighting,” I with him believed That a benignant Spirit was abroad Which might not be withstood, that poverty, Abject as this, would in a little time Be found no more, that we should see the earth Unthwarted in her wish to recompence The meek, the lowly, patient Child of Toil, All institutes for ever blotted out That legalized exclusion, empty pomp Abolished, sensual State and cruel Power, Whether by edict of the One or few; And finally, as sum and crown of all, Should see the People having a strong hand In framing their own Laws, whence better days To all mankind. But, these things set apart, Was not this single confidence enough To animate the mind that ever turned A thought to human welfare, that henceforth Captivity by mandate without law Should cease, and open accusation lead To sentence in the hearing of the world, And open punishment, if not the air Be free to breathe in, and the heart of Man Dread nothing? From this height I shall not stoop To humbler matter that detained us oft In thought or conversation, public acts And public persons, and emotions wrought Within the breast, as ever varying winds Of record or report swept over us; But I will here, instead, repeat a Tale Told by my Patriot friend of sad events That prove to what low depth had struck the roots, How widely spread the boughs, of that old tree Which, as a deadly mischief, and a foul And black dishonour, France was weary of. “Oh! happy time of youthful Lovers! (thus My Story may begin) O balmy time In which a Love-Knot on a Lady’s brow

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290â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Is fairer than the fairest star in Heaven!” So might—and with that prelude did begin The Record; and in faithful Verse was given The doleful sequel. But our little Bark On a strong River boldly hath been launched, And from the driving current should we turn To loiter wilfully within a Creek, Howe’er attractive, Fellow Voyager! Wouldst thou not chide? Yet deem not my pains lost; For Vaudracour and Julia (so were named The ill-fated pair) in that plain Tale will draw Tears from the hearts of others when their own Shall beat no more. Thou also there may’st read At leisure, how the enamoured Youth was driven, By public Power abused, to fatal crime, Nature’s rebellion against monstrous law; How between heart and heart oppression thrust Her mandates, severing whom true love had joined, Harrassing both; until he sank and pressed The couch his fate had made for him—supine, Save when the stings of viperous remorse, Trying their strength, forced him to start up, Aghast and prayerless. Into a deep wood He fled to shun the haunts of human kind; There dwelt, weakened in spirit more and more. Nor could the voice of Freedom, which through France Full speedily resounded, public hope, Or personal memory of his own worst wrongs, Rouse him, but, hidden in those gloomy shades, His days he wasted, an imbecile mind.

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Book Tenth

France continued It was a beautiful and silent day That overspread the countenance of earth, Then fading with unusual quietness— A day as beautiful as e’er was given To soothe regret, though deepening what it soothed, When by the gliding Loire I paused, and cast

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 291 Upon his rich domains, vineyard and tilth, Green meadow-ground and many-colored woods, Again, and yet again, a farewell look; Then from the quiet of that scene passed on, Bound to the fierce Metropolis. From his throne The King had fallen; and that invading Host, Presumptuous cloud on whose black front was written The tender mercies of the dismal wind That bore it, on the plains of Liberty Had burst innocuous. Say in bolder words, They who had come elate as eastern Hunters Banded beneath the great Mogul, when He Ere while went forth from Agra or Lahor, Rajas and Omras in his train, intent To drive their prey enclosed within a ring Wide as a Province, but, the signal given, Before the point of the life-threatening spear Narrowing itself by moments—they, rash Men, Had seen the anticipated Quarry turned Into Avengers, from whose wrath they fled In terror. Disappointment and dismay Remained for all whose fancies had run wild With evil expectations; confidence And perfect triumph for the better cause. — The State, as if to stamp the final seal On her security, and to the world Show what she was, a high and fearless Soul Exulting in defiance, or heart-stung By sharp resentment, or belike to taunt With spiteful gratitude the baffled League That had stirred up her slackening faculties To a new transition, when the King was crushed, Spared not the empty Throne, and in proud haste Assumed the body and venerable name Of a Republic. Lamentable crimes, ’Tis true, had gone before this hour, dire work Of massacre, in which the senseless sword Was prayed to as a Judge; but these were past, Earth free from them for ever, as was thought;

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292â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ephemeral Monsters to be seen but once! Things that could only shew themselves and die. Cheared with this hope, to Paris I returned; And ranged, with ardor heretofore unfelt, The spacious City, and in progress passed The Prison where the unhappy Monarch lay, Associate with his Children and his Wife, In Bondage; and the Palace lately stormed, With roar of Cannon, by a furious Host. I crossed the Square (an empty Area then!) Of the Carousel, where so late had lain The Dead, upon the Dying heaped; and gazed On this and other Spots, as doth a Man Upon a Volume whose contents he knows Are memorable, but from him locked up, Being written in a tongue he cannot read; So that he questions the mute leaves with pain, And half-upbraids their silence. But, that night, I felt most deeply in what world I was, What ground I trod on, and what air I breathed. High was my Room and lonely, near the roof Of a large Mansion or Hotel, a Lodge That would have pleased me in more quiet times, Nor was it wholly without pleasure, then. With unextinguished taper I kept watch, Reading at intervals; the fear gone by Pressed on me almost like a fear to come. I thought of those September massacres, Divided from me by one little month, Saw them and touched; the rest was conjured up From tragic fictions, or true history, Remembrances and dim admonishments. The Horse is taught his manage, and no Star Of wildest course but treads back his own steps; For the spent hurricane the air provides As fierce a Successor; the tide retreats But to return out of its hiding place In the great Deep; all things have second birth; The earthquake is not satisfied at once;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 293 And in this way I wrought upon myself Until I seemed to hear a voice that cried To the whole City, “Sleep no more.” The Trance Fled with the Voice to which it had given birth, But vainly comments of a calmer mind Promised soft peace and sweet forgetfulness. The place, all hushed and silent as it was, Appeared unfit for the repose of Night, Defenceless as a wood where Tygers roam. With early morning towards the Palace walk Of Orleans eagerly I turned; as yet The streets were still; not so those long Arcades; There—’mid a peal of ill-matched Sounds and cries That greeted me on entering—I could hear Shrill voices from the Hawkers in the throng Bawling, “Denunciation of the crimes Of Maximilian Robespierre;” the hand, Prompt as the voice, held forth a printed Speech, The same that had been recently pronounced When Robespierre, not ignorant for what mark Some words of indirect reproof had been Intended, rose in hardihood and dared The Man who had an ill-surmise of him To bring his charge in openness; whereat, When a dead pause ensued and no one stirred, In silence of all present, from his seat Louvet walked single through the Avenue And took his station in the Tribune, saying, “I, Robespierre, accuse thee!” Well is known The inglorious issue of that charge, and how He who had launched the startling thunderbolt, The one bold Man whose voice the attack had sounded, Was left without a Follower to discharge His perilous duty and retire, lamenting That Heaven’s best aid is wasted upon Men Who to themselves are false. But these are things Of which I speak only as they were storm Or sunshine to my individual mind,

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294â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth No further. Let me then relate that now, In some sort seeing with my proper eyes That Liberty, and Life, and Death would soon To the remotest corners of the Land Lie in the arbitriment of those who ruled The capital City, what was struggled for, And by what Combatants victory must be won, The indecision on their part whose aim Seemed best, and the strait-forward path of those Who in attack or in defence were strong Through their impiety; my inmost soul Was agitated; yea, I could almost Have prayed that throughout earth upon all men, By patient exercise of reason made Worthy of Liberty, all Spirits filled With zeal expanding in Truth’s holy light, The gift of tongues might fall, and Power arrive From the four quarters of the winds to do For France what without help she could not do, A work of honor; think not that to this I added work of safety: from all doubt Or trepidation for the end of things Far was I, far as Angels are from guilt. Yet did I grieve, nor only grieved, but thought Of opposition and of remedies; An insignificant Stranger and obscure, And one, moreover, little graced with power Of eloquence even in my native speech, And all unfit for tumult or intrigue, Yet would I at this time with willing heart Have undertaken for a cause so great Service however dangerous. I revolved How much the destiny of Man had still Hung upon single Persons, that there was, Transcendant to all local patrimony, One Nature as there is one Sun in Heaven, That Objects, even as they are great, thereby Do come within the reach of humblest eyes, That Man is only weak through his mistrust

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 295 And want of hope, where evidence divine Proclaims to him that hope should be most sure. Nor did the inexperience of my youth Preclude conviction that a spirit, strong In hope and trained to noble aspirations, A spirit thoroughly faithful to itself, Is for Society’s unreasoning herd A domineering instinct, serves at once For way and guide, a fluent receptacle That gathers up each petty straggling rill And vein of Water, glad to be rolled on In safe obedience; that a mind whose rest Is where it ought to be, in self-restraint, In circumspection and simplicity, Falls rarely in entire discomfiture Below its aim, or meets with from without A treachery that foils it or defeats; And lastly, if the means on human will, Frail human will, dependent should betray Him who too boldly trusted them, I felt That ’mid the loud distractions of the world A sovereign voice subsists within the soul, Arbiter undisturbed of right and wrong, Of life and death, in majesty severe Enjoining, as may best promote the aims Of Truth and justice, either sacrifice, From whatsoever region of our cares Or our infirm affections nature pleads, Earnest and blind, against the stern decree. —On the other side I called to mind those truths That are the common-places of the Schools, A theme for Boys, too hackneyed for their Sires, Yet, with a revelation’s liveliness, In all their comprehensive bearings known And visible to Philosophers of old, Men who, to business of the world untrained, Lived in the shade; and to Harmodius known And his Compeer Aristogiton, known To Brutus, that tyrannic Power is weak,

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296â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Hath neither gratitude, nor faith, nor love, Nor the support of good or evil men To trust in, that the Godhead which is ours Can never utterly be charmed or stilled, That nothing hath a natural right to last But equity and reason, that all else Meets foes irreconcilable, and at best Lives only by variety of disease. Well might my wishes be intense, my thoughts Strong and perturbed, not doubting at that time But that the virtue of one paramount mind Would have abashed those impious crests, have quelled Outrage and bloody power, and, in despite Of what the People long had been and were Through ignorance and false teaching, sadder proof Of immaturity, and in the teeth Of desperate opposition from without, Have cleared a passage for just government, And left a solid birthright to the State, Redeemed according to example given By ancient Lawgivers. In this frame of mind, Dragged by a chain of harsh necessity, So seemed it,—now I thankfully acknowledge, Forced by the gracious providence of Heaven— To England I returned, else (though assured That I both was, and must be, of small weight, No better than a Landsman on the deck Of a ship struggling with a hideous storm) Doubtless I should have then made common cause With some who perished, haply perished too, A poor mistaken and bewildered offering, Should to the breast of Nature have gone back With all my resolutions, all my hopes, A Poet only to myself, to Men Useless, and even, belovéd Friend, a Soul To thee unknown! Twice had the trees let fall Their leaves, as often Winter had put on

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 297 His hoary crown, since I had seen the surge Beat against Albion’s shore, since ear of mine Had caught the accents of my native speech Upon our native Country’s sacred ground. A Patriot of the World, how could I glide Into communion with her sylvan shades, Erewhile my tuneful haunt?—it pleased me more To abide in the great City, where I found The general Air still busy with the stir Of that first memorable onset made By a strong levy of Humanity Upon the Traffickers in Negro blood: Effort which, though defeated, had recalled To notice old forgotten principles And through the Nation spread a novel heat, Of virtuous feeling. For myself, I own That this particular strife had wanted power To rivet my affections, nor did now Its unsuccessful issue much excite My sorrow, for I brought with me the faith That, if France prospered, good men would not long Pay fruitless worship to humanity, And this most rotten branch of human shame, Object, so seemed it, of superfluous pains, Would fall together with its parent tree. What then were my emotions, when in Arms Britain put forth her free-born strength in league, O pity and shame! with those confederate Powers? Not in my single self alone I found, But in the minds of all ingenuous Youth, Change and subversion from that hour. No shock Given to my moral nature had I known Down to that very moment; neither lapse Nor turn of sentiment that might be named A revolution, save at this one time; All else was progress on the self-same path On which, with a diversity of pace, I had been travelling: this a stride at once Into another region.—As a light

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298â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And pliant hare-bell swinging in the breeze On some gray rock, its birth-place, so had I Wantoned, fast rooted on the ancient tower Of my beloved Country, wishing not A happier fortune than to wither there. Now was I from that pleasant station torn And tossed about in whirlwind. I rejoiced, Yea, afterwards, truth most painful to record! Exulted, in the triumph of my Soul, When Englishmen by thousands were o’erthrown, Left without glory on the field, or driven, Brave hearts, to shameful flight. It was a grief,— Grief call it not, ’twas any thing but that,— A conflict of sensations without name, Of which he only who may love the sight Of a Village Steeple as I do can judge, When, in the Congregation bending all To their great Father, prayers were offered up, Or praises, for our Country’s victories, And, ’mid the simple Worshippers, perchance I only, like an uninvited Guest, Whom no one owned, sate silent, shall I add, Fed on the day of vengeance yet to come? Oh! much have they to account for, who could tear By violence, at one decisive rent, From the best Youth in England, their dear pride, Their joy in England: this too at a time In which worst losses easily might wear The best of names, when patriotic love Did of itself in modesty give way, Like the Precursor when the Deity Is come whose Harbinger he was, a time In which apostasy from ancient faith Seemed but conversion to a higher creed; Withal a season dangerous and wild, A time when sage Experience would have snatched Flowers out of any hedge-row to compose A chaplet in contempt of his grey locks. When the proud Fleet that bears the red-cross Flag

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 299 In that unworthy service were prepared To mingle, I beheld the Vessels lie, A brood of gallant Creatures, on the Deep, I saw them in their rest, a Sojourner Through a whole month of calm and glassy days, In that delightful Island which protects Their place of convocation—there I heard, Each evening, pacing by the still sea-shore, A monitory sound that never failed,— The sunset Cannon. While the orb went down In the tranquillity of Nature, came That voice, ill requiem! seldom heard by me Without a spirit overcast by dark Imaginations, sense of woes to come, Sorrow for human kind, and pain of heart. In France the men who, for their desperate ends, Had plucked up mercy by the roots, were glad Of this new enemy. Tyrants, strong before In wicked pleas, were strong as Demons now; And thus, on every side beset with foes, The goaded land waxed mad; the crimes of few Spread into madness of the many, blasts From hell came sanctified like airs from heaven; The sternness of the Just, the faith of those Who doubted not that Providence had times Of vengeful retribution;—theirs who throned The human understanding paramount And made of that their God, the hopes of men Who were content to barter short-lived pangs For a paradise of ages, the blind rage Of insolent tempers, the light vanity Of intermeddlers, steady purposes Of the suspicious, slips of the indiscreet, And all the accidents of life were pressed Into one service, busy with one work. The Senate stood aghast, her prudence quenched, Her wisdom stifled, and her justice scared, Her frenzy only active to extol Past outrages, and shape the way for new,

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300â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Which no one dared to oppose or mitigate. —Domestic carnage now filled the whole year With Feast-days; old Men from the Chimney-nook, The Maiden from the bosom of her Love, The Mother from the Cradle of her Babe, The Warrior from the Field, all perished, all, Friends, enemies, of all parties, ages, ranks, Head after head, and never heads enough For those that bade them fall. They found their joy, They made it, proudly eager as a Child (If like desires of innocent little ones May with such heinous appetites be compared), Pleased in some open field to exercise A toy that mimics with revolving wings The motion of a windmill, though the air Do of itself blow fresh and make the Vanes Spin in his eyesight, that contents him not, But, with the play-thing at arm’s length, he sets His front against the blast, and runs amain That it may whirl the faster. ’Mid the depth Of those enormities, even thinking minds Forgot at seasons whence they had their being, Forgot that such a sound was ever heard As Liberty upon earth; yet all beneath Her innocent authority was wrought, Nor could have been without her blessed name. The illustrious wife of Roland, in the hour Of her composure, felt that agony And gave it vent in her last words. O Friend! It was a lamentable time for man, Whether a hope had e’er been his or not, A woeful time for them whose hopes survived The shock—most woeful for those few who still Were flattered and had trust in human-kind: They had the deepest feeling of the grief. Meanwhile the Invaders fared as they deserved: The Herculean Commonwealth had put forth her arms And throttled with an infant Godhead’s might

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 301 The snakes about her cradle: that was well And as it should be, yet no cure for them Whose souls were sick with pain of what would be Hereafter brought in charge against mankind. Most melancholy at that time, O Friend! Were my day-thoughts, my nights were miserable; Through months, through years, long after the last beat Of those atrocities, the hour of sleep To me came rarely charged with natural gifts, Such ghastly Visions had I of despair And tyranny, and implements of death, And innocent victims sinking under fear, And momentary hope, and worn-out prayer, Each in his separate cell, or penned in crowds For sacrifice, and struggling with forced mirth And levity in dungeons where the dust Was laid with tears. Then suddenly the scene Changed, and the unbroken dream entangled me In long orations which I strove to plead Before unjust tribunals—with a voice Labouring, a brain confounded, and a sense Death-like of treacherous desertion, felt In the last place of refuge, my own soul. When I began in Youth’s delightful prime To yield myself to Nature, when that strong And holy passion overcame me first, Nor day nor night, evening or morn, were free From its oppression. But, O Power supreme! Without whose care this world would cease to breathe, Who from the fountain of thy grace dost fill The veins that branch through every frame of life, Making man what he is, Creature divine, In single or in social eminence Above the rest raised infinite ascents When reason that enables him to be Is not sequestered, what a change is here! How different ritual for this after-worship! What countenance to promote this second love! The first was service paid to things which lie

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302â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Guarded within the bosom of thy will. Therefore to serve was high beatitude; Tumult was therefore gladness, and the fear Ennobling, venerable; sleep secure, And waking thoughts more rich than happiest dreams. But as the ancient Prophets, borne aloft In vision, yet constrained by natural laws With them to take a troubled human heart, Wanted not consolations nor a creed Of reconcilement, then when they denounced On Towns and Cities wallowing in the abyss Of their offences punishment to come; Or saw, like other men, with bodily eyes, Before them, in some desolated place, The wrath consummate and the threat fulfilled; So, with devout humility be it said, So did a portion of that spirit fall On me, uplifted from the vantage ground Of pity and sorrow to a state of being That through the time’s exceeding fierceness saw Glimpses of retribution, terrible And in the order of sublime behests; But even if that were not, amid the awe Of unintelligible chastisement, Not only acquiescences of faith Survived, but daring sympathies with power, Motions not treacherous or profane, else why Within the folds of no ungentle breast Their dread vibration to this hour prolonged? Wild blasts of music thus could find their way Into the midst of turbulent events, So that worst tempests might be listened to. Then was the truth received into my heart, That, under heaviest sorrow earth can bring, If from the affliction somewhere do not grow Honor which could not else have been, a faith, An elevation, and a sanctity, If new strength be not given nor old restored, The blame is ours, not Nature’s. When a taunt

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 303 Was taken up by scoffers in their pride, Saying, “Behold the harvest that we reap From popular Government and Equality,” Clearly I saw that neither these, nor aught Of wild belief engrafted on their names By false philosophy, had caused the woe, But a terrific reservoir of guilt And ignorance, filled up from age to age, That could no longer hold its loathsome charge, But burst and spread in deluge through the Land. And, as the desert hath green spots, the sea Small islands scattered amid stormy waves, So that disastrous period did not want Bright sprinklings of all human excellence To which the silver wands of Saints in heaven Might point with rapturous joy. Yet not the less, For those examples in no age surpassed Of fortitude and energy and love; And human nature faithful to herself Under worst trials, was I driven to think Of the glad times when first I traversed France, A youthful Pilgrim; above all reviewed That even-tide, when under windows bright With happy faces, and with garlands hung, And through a rainbow arch that spanned the street, Triumphal pomp for Liberty confirmed, I paced, a dear Companion at my side, The Town of Arras, whence with promise high Issued, on Delegation to sustain Humanity and right, that Robespierre, He who thereafter, and in how short time! Wielded the sceptre of the Atheist Crew. When the calamity spread far and wide, And this same City, that did then appear To outrun the rest in exultation, groaned Under the vengeance of her cruel Son As Lear reproached the winds, I could almost Have quarrelled with that blameless Spectacle For lingering yet an Image in my mind

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304â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To mock me under such a strange reverse. O Friend! few happier moments have been mine, Than that which told the downfall of this Tribe So dreaded, so abhorr’d.— The day deserves A separate Record. Over the smooth Sands Of Leven’s ample Æstuary lay My journey, and beneath a genial Sun, With distant prospect among gleams of sky, And clouds, and intermingling mountain tops, In one inseparable glory clad, Creatures of one etherial substance met In Consistory, like a diadem Or crown of burning Seraphs, as they sit In the Empyrean. Underneath that pomp Celestial, lay unseen the pastoral Vales Among whose happy fields I had grown up From Childhood. On the fulgent Spectacle, That neither passed away nor changed, I gazed Enrapt; but brightest things are wont to draw Sad opposites out of the inner heart, As soon their pensive influence drew from mine. How could it otherwise? for not in vain That very morning had I turned aside To seek the ground where, ’mid a throng of Graves, An honored Teacher of my Youth was laid. While we were School-boys, he had died among us, And was borne thither, as I knew, to rest With his own Family. A plain stone inscribed With name, date, office, pointed out the Spot, And on the Stone were graven, by his desire, Lines from the Churchyard Elegy of Gray. This faithful Guide, speaking from his death-bed, Added no farewell to his parting counsel, But said to me, “My head will soon lie low;” And when I saw the turf that covered him, After the lapse of full eight years, those words, With sound of voice, and countenance of the Man, Came back upon me, so that some few tears Fell from me in my own despite. But now

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 305 I thought, still traversing that wide-spread plain, With tender pleasure of the Verses graven Upon his Tomb-stone, whispering to myself: He loved the Poets, and if now alive Would have loved me, as One not destitute Of promise, nor belying the kind hope That he had formed, when I, at his command, Began to spin with toil my earliest Songs. —As I advanced, all that I saw or felt Was gentleness and peace. Upon a small And rocky Island near, a fragment stood (Itself like a sea-rock), the low remains (With shells encrusted, dark with briny weeds) Of a dilapidated Structure, once A Romish Chapel, where the vested Priest Said matins at the hour that suited those Who crossed the Sands with ebb of morning-tide; Not far from that still Ruin all the Plain Lay spotted with a variegated Crowd Of Vehicles, and Travellers, horse and foot, Wading beneath the Conduct of their Guide In loose Procession through the shallow Stream Of Inland Waters: the Great Sea, meanwhile, Heaved at safe distance, far retired. I paused, Longing for skill to paint a scene so bright And chearful—but the foremost of the Band As he approached, no salutation given, In the familiar language of the day Cried, “Robespierre is dead!”—nor was a doubt, After strict question, left within my mind That He and his Supporters all were fallen. Great was my transport, deep my gratitude To everlasting justice, by this fiat Made manifest. “Come now, Ye golden times,” Said I, forth-pouring on those open Sands A Hymn of triumph, “as the morning comes From out the bosom of the night, come Ye: Thus far our trust is verified; behold! They who with clumsy desperation brought

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306â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A river of blood, and preached that nothing else Could cleanse the Augean Stable, by the might Of their own Helper have been swept away; Their madness stands declared and visible; Elsewhere will safety now be sought, and Earth March firmly towards righteousness and peace.” — Then schemes I framed more calmly, when, and how, The madding Factions might be tranquillized, And how through hardships manifold and long The glorious renovation would proceed. Thus interrupted by uneasy bursts Of exultation, I pursued my way Along that very Shore which I had skimmed In former days, when, spurring from the Vale Of Nightshade, and St Mary’s mouldering Fane, And the Stone Abbot, after circuit made In wantonness of heart, a joyous Band Of School-boys, hastening to their distant home, Along the margin of the moon-light Sea We beat with thundering hoofs the level Sand.

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Book Eleventh France, concluded From that time forth Authority in France Put on a milder face; terror had ceased, Yet every thing was wanting that might give Courage to them who looked for good by light Of rational experience, for the shoots And hopeful blossoms of a second spring: Yet in me confidence was unimpaired; The Senate’s language and the public acts And measures of the Government, though both Weak, and of heartless omen, had not power To daunt me; in the People was my trust And in the virtues which mine eyes had seen. I knew that wound external could not take Life from the young Republic, that new foes Would only follow in the path of shame Their brethren, and her triumphs be in the end

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 307 Great, universal, irresistible. This intuition led me to confound One victory with another, higher far, Triumphs of unambitious peace at home And noiseless fortitude. Beholding still Resistance strong as heretofore, I thought That what was in degree the same was likewise The same in quality, that as the worse Of the two Spirits then at strife remained Untired, the better surely would preserve The heart that first had roused him. Youth maintains, In all conditions of society, Communion more direct and intimate With Nature—hence, ofttimes, with Reason too— Than Age or Manhood, even. To Nature then Power had reverted: habit, custom, law, Had left an interregnum’s open space For her to move about in, uncontrolled. Hence could I see how Babel-like their task Who, by the recent deluge stupified, With their whole souls went culling from the day Its petty promises, to build a tower For their own safety; laughed with my Compeers At gravest heads, by enmity to France Distempered, till they found, in every blast Forced from the Street-disturbing Newsman’s horn, For her great cause Record or Prophesy Of utter ruin. How might we believe That wisdom could in any shape come near Men clinging to delusions so insane? And thus, experience proving that no few Of our opinions had been just, We took Like credit to ourselves where less was due, And thought that other notions were as sound, Yea, could not but be right, because we saw That foolish men opposed them. To a strain More animated I might here give way, And tell, since juvenile errors are my theme,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 309 And of the bounds which sever it from good, As books and common intercourse with life Must needs have given—to the inexperienced mind, When the World travels in a beaten road, Guide faithful as is needed—I began To meditate with ardour on the Rule And management of Nations, what it is And ought to be, and strove to learn how far Their power or weakness, wealth or poverty, Their happiness or misery, depend Upon their laws, and fashion of the State. O pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the Auxiliars which then stood Upon our side, we who were strong in Love! Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very Heaven! O times, In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took at once The attraction of a Country in Romance! When Reason seemed the most to assert her rights, When most intent on making of herself A prime Enchantress—to assist the work Which then was going forward in her name! Not favored spots alone, but the whole earth The beauty wore of promise—that which sets (As at some moments might not be unfelt Among the bowers of Paradise itself) The budding rose above the rose full blown. What Temper at the prospect did not wake To happiness unthought of? The inert Were roused, and lively natures rapt away! They who had fed their Childhood upon dreams, The play-fellows of Fancy, who had made All powers of swiftness, subtilty, and strength Their ministers,—who in lordly wise had stirred Among the grandest objects of the Sense, And dealt with whatsoever they found there As if they had within some lurking right To wield it;—they, too, who of gentle mood

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 311 Is lost in light, the weak in the more strong. In the main outline, such, it might be said, Was my condition, till with open war Britain opposed the Liberties of France; This threw me first out of the pale of love, Soured, and corrupted, upwards to the source, My sentiments; was not, as hitherto, A swallowing up of lesser things in great; But change of them into their contraries; And thus a way was opened for mistakes And false conclusions, in degree as gross, In kind more dangerous. What had been a pride Was now a shame; my likings and my loves Ran in new channels, leaving old ones dry, And hence a blow that in maturer age Would but have touched the judgement, struck more deep Into sensations near the heart; meantime, As from the first, wild theories were afloat To whose pretensions sedulously urged I had but lent a careless ear, assured That time was ready to set all things right, And that the multitude so long oppressed Would be oppressed no more. But when events Brought less encouragement, and unto these The immediate proof of principles no more Could be entrusted, while the events themselves, Worn out in greatness, stripped of novelty, Less occupied the mind; and sentiments Could through my understanding’s natural growth No longer keep their ground, by faith maintained Of inward consciousness, and hope that laid Her hand upon her object; evidence Safer, of universal application, such As could not be impeached, was sought elsewhere. But now, become Oppressors in their turn, Frenchmen had changed a war of self-defence For one of Conquest, losing sight of all Which they had struggled for: and mounted up,

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312â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Openly in the eye of Earth and Heaven, The scale of Liberty. I read her doom With anger vexed, with disappointment sore, But not dismayed, nor taking to the shame Of a false Prophet. While resentment rose, Striving to hide, what nought could heal, the wounds Of mortified presumption, I adhered More firmly to old tenets, and, to prove Their temper, strained them more; and thus, in heat Of contest, did opinions every day Grow into consequence, till round my mind They clung, as if they were its life, nay more, The very being of the immortal Soul. This was the time when, all things tending fast To depravation, speculative schemes That promised to abstract the hopes of Man Out of his feelings, to be fixed thenceforth For ever in a purer element, Found ready welcome. Tempting region that For Zeal to enter and refresh herself, Where passions had the privilege to work, And never hear the sound of their own names: But, speaking more in charity, the dream Flattered the young, pleased with extremes, nor least With that which makes our Reason’s naked self The object of its fervour: What delight! How glorious! in self-knowledge and self-rule To look through all the frailties of the world, And, with a resolute mastery shaking off Infirmities of Nature, time, and place, Build social upon personal Liberty, Which, to the blind restraints of general Laws Superior, magisterially adopts One guide, the light of circumstances, flashed Upon an independent intellect. Thus expectation rose again; thus hope, From her first ground expelled, grew proud once more. Oft, as my thoughts were turned to human kind, I scorned indifference; but, inflamed with thirst

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 313 Of a secure intelligence, and sick Of other longing, I pursued what seemed A more exalted nature, wished that Man Should start out of his earthy worm-like state And spread abroad the wings of liberty, Lord of himself in undisturbed delight; A noble aspiration! yet I feel (Sustained by worthier as by wiser thoughts) The aspiration, nor shall ever cease To feel it; but return we to our course. Enough, ’tis true, could such a plea excuse Those aberrations, had the clamorous friends Of ancient Institutions said and done To bring disgrace upon their very names; Disgrace of which custom and written law, And sundry moral sentiments as props Or emanations of those institutes, Too justly bore a part. A veil had been Uplifted; why deceive ourselves? in sooth, ’Twas even so; and sorrow for the Man Who either had not eyes wherewith to see, Or, seeing, had forgotten; a strong shock Was given to old opinions; all Men’s minds Had felt its power, and mine was both let loose, Let loose and goaded. After what hath been Already said of patriotic love, Suffice it here to add, that, somewhat stern In temperament, withal a happy man, And therefore bold to look on painful things, Free likewise of the world, and thence more bold, I summoned my best skill, and toiled, intent To anatomize the frame of social life, Yea, the whole body of society Searched to its heart. Share with me, Friend! the wish That some dramatic tale indued with shapes Livelier, and flinging out less guarded words Than suit the Work we fashion, might set forth What then I learned, or think I learned, of truth, And the errors into which I fell, betrayed

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314â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth By present objects, and by reasonings false From their beginnings, inasmuch as drawn Out of a heart that had been turned aside From Nature’s way by outward accidents, And which was thus confounded more and more, Misguided and misguiding. So I fared, Dragging all precepts, judgments, maxims, creeds, Like culprits to the bar; calling the mind, Suspiciously, to establish in plain day Her titles and her honors, now believing, Now disbelieving, endlessly perplexed With impulse, motive, right and wrong, the ground Of obligation, what the rule and whence The sanction, till, demanding formal proof And seeking it in every thing, I lost All feeling of conviction, and, in fine, Sick, wearied out with contrarieties, Yielded up moral questions in despair. This was the crisis of that strong disease, This the soul’s last and lowest ebb; I drooped, Deeming our blessed Reason of least use Where wanted most: the lordly attributes Of will and choice (I bitterly exclaimed), What are they but a mockery of a Being Who hath in no concerns of his a test Of good and evil? knows not what to fear Or hope for, what to covet or to shun? And who, if those could be discerned, would yet Be little profited, would see, and ask Where is the obligation to enforce? And, to acknowledged law rebellious, still As selfish passion urged would act amiss: The dupe of folly, or the slave of crime? Depressed, bewildered thus, I did not walk With scoffers, seeking light and gay revenge From indiscriminate laughter, nor sate down In reconcilement with an utter waste Of Intellect; such sloth I could not brook. (Too well I loved, in that my spring of life,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 315 Pains-taking thoughts and truth, their dear reward), But turned to abstract science, and there sought Work for the reasoning faculty, enthroned Where the disturbances of space and time— Whether in matter’s various properties Inherent, or from human will and power Derived—find no admission.— Then it was, Thanks to the bounteous Giver of all good! That the beloved Woman in whose sight Those days were passed, now speaking in a voice Of sudden admonition—like a brook That does but cross a lonely road, and now Seen, heard, and felt, and caught at every turn, Companion never lost through many a league— Maintained for me a saving intercourse With my true self: for, though bedimmed and changed Both as a clouded and a waning moon, She whispered still that brightness would return, She in the midst of all preserved me still A Poet, made me seek beneath that name, And that alone, my office upon earth. And lastly, as hereafter will be shewn, If willing audience fail not, Nature’s self, By all varieties of human love Assisted, led me back through opening day To those sweet counsels between head and heart Whence grew that genuine knowledge fraught with peace Which, through the later sinkings of this cause, Hath still upheld me, and upholds me now In the catastrophe (for so they dream, And nothing less), when, finally to close And rivet down the gains of France, a Pope Is summoned in, to crown an Emperor: This last opprobrium, when we see a people That once looked up in faith, as if to Heaven For manna, take a lesson from the Dog Returning to his vomit; when the Sun That rose in splendour, was alive, and moved In exultation with a living pomp

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316â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of clouds—his glory’s natural retinue— Hath dropped all functions by the Gods bestowed, And, turned into a gewgaw, a machine, Sets like an Opera phantom. Thus through times Of honor and through times of bitter shame Descending, have I faithfully retraced The perturbations of a youthful mind Under a long-lived storm of great events— A Story destined for thy ear, who now Among the fallen of Nations dost abide Where Ætna over hill and valley casts His shadow, stretching towards Syracuse, The City of Timoleon. Righteous Heaven! How are the mighty prostrated! they first, They first of all that breathe should have awaked When the great voice was heard from out the Tombs Of ancient Heroes. If I suffered grief For ill-requited France, by many deemed A trifler only in her proudest day; Have been distressed to think of what she once Promised, now is; a far more sober cause Thine eyes must see of sorrow in a Land, Though with the wreck of loftier years bestrewn, To the reanimating influence lost Of Memory, to virtue lost and hope. But indignation works where hope is not, And thou, O Friend! wilt be refreshed. There is One great Society alone on Earth, The noble Living, and the noble Dead. Thine be such converse strong and sanative, A ladder for thy Spirit to reascend To health and joy and pure contentedness: To me the grief confined that Thou art gone From this last spot of earth where Freedom now Stands single in her only Sanctuary; A lonely Wanderer art gone, by pain Compelled and sickness, at this latter day, This sorrowful reverse for all mankind.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 317 I feel for thee, must utter what I feel: The sympathies erewhile in part discharged Gather afresh, and will have vent again; My own delights do scarcely seem to me My own delights; the lordly Alps themselves, Those rosy peaks, from which the morning looks Abroad on many Nations, for my mind Are not that image of pure gladsomeness Which they were wont to be: through kindred scenes, For purpose, at a time how different! Thou tak’st thy way, carrying the heart and soul That Nature gives to Poets, now by thought Matured, and in the summer of their strength. Oh! wrap him in your Shades, Ye Giant woods On Etna’s side, and thou, O flowery Field Of Enna! is there not some nook of thine From the first play-time of the infant world Kept sacred to restorative delight When from afar invoked by anxious love? Child of the Mountains, among Shepherds reared, Ere yet familiar with the Classic page, I learnt to dream of Sicily; and lo! The gloom that, but a moment past, was deepened At her command, at her command gives way; Sensations changing as thoughts shift their ground, A pleasant promise, wafted from her shores, Comes o’er my heart: in fancy I behold Her seas yet smiling, her once happy Vales, Nor can my tongue give utterance to a name Of note belonging to that honored Isle, Philosopher or Bard, Empedocles, Or Archimedes, pure abstracted Soul! That doth not yield a solace to my grief; And O Theocritus, so far have some Prevailed among the powers of heaven and earth By their endowments good or great, that they Have had, as thou reportest, miracles Wrought for them in old time: yea, not unmoved When thinking on my own beloved Friend,

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318â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth I hear thee tell how bees with honey fed Divine Comates, by his impious Lord Within a Chest imprisoned, how they came Laden from blooming grove or flowery field, And fed him there, alive month after month, Because the Goatherd, blessed Man! had lips Wet with the Muses’ Nectar. Thus I soothe The pensive moments by this calm fire side, And find a thousand bounteous images To chear the thoughts of those I love, and mine; Our prayers have been accepted, thou wilt stand On Etna’s summit above earth and sea Triumphant, winning from the invaded heavens Thoughts without bound, magnificent designs Worthy of Poets who attuned the Harp In wood or echoing cave, for discipline Of Heroes; or, in reverence to the Gods, ’Mid Temples served by sapient Priests and choirs Of Virgins crowned with roses. Not in vain Those temples, where they in their ruins yet Survive for inspiration, shall attract Thy solitary steps. And on the brink Thou wilt recline of pastoral Arethuse; Or, if that fountain be in truth no more, Then near some other Spring which by the name Thou gratulatest, willingly deceived, I see Thee linger, a glad Votary, And not a Captive pining for his home.

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Book Twelfth Imagination and Taste, how impaired and restored Long time have human ignorance and guilt Detained us, on what spectacles of woe Compelled to look, and inwardly oppressed With sorrow, disappointment, vexing thoughts, Confusion of the judgment, zeal decayed, And, lastly, utter loss of hope itself And things to hope for! Not with these began

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 319 Our Song, and not with these our Song must end. Ye motions of delight, that haunt the sides Of the green hills; ye breezes and soft airs, Whose subtile intercourse with breathing flowers, Feelingly watched, might teach Man’s haughty race How without injury to take, to give Without offence; ye who, as if to shew The wondrous influence of power gently used, Bend the complying heads of lordly pines, And with a touch shift the stupendous clouds Through the whole compass of the sky; ye brooks Muttering along the stones, a busy noise By day, a quiet sound in silent night; Ye waves that out of the great deep steal forth In a calm hour to kiss the pebbly shore, Not mute, and then retire, fearing no storm; And you, ye Groves, whose ministry it is To interpose the covert of your shades, Even as a sleep, between the heart of man And outward troubles, between man himself, Not seldom, and his own uneasy heart! Oh that I had a music and a voice Harmonious as your own, that I might tell What Ye have done for me! The morning shines, Nor heedeth Man’s perverseness; Spring returns, I saw the Spring return and could rejoice, In common with the Children of her love Piping on boughs, or sporting on fresh fields, Or boldly seeking pleasure nearer heaven On wings that navigate cerulean skies. So neither were complacency nor peace Nor tender yearnings wanting for my good Through those distracted times; in Nature still Glorying, I found a counterpoise in her, Which, when the Spirit of evil reached its height, Maintained for me a secret happiness. This Narrative, my Friend, hath chiefly told Of intellectual power, fostering love, Dispensing truth, and over men and things,

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320â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where reason yet might hesitate, diffusing Prophetic sympathies of genial faith. So was I favored, such my happy lot, Until that natural graciousness of mind Gave way to overpressure from the times And their disastrous issues. What availed, When spells forbade the Voyager to land, That fragrant notice of a pleasant shore Wafted at intervals from many a bower Of blissful gratitude and fearless peace? Dare I avow that wish was mine to see, And hope that future times would surely see, The man to come parted as by a gulph From him who had been, that I could no more Trust the elevation which had made me one With the great Family that still survives To illuminate the abyss of ages past, Sage, Warrior, Patriot, Hero?—for it seemed That their best virtues were not free from taint Of something false and weak, that could not stand The open eye of Reason. Then I said, “Go to the Poets; they will speak to thee More perfectly of purer Creatures; yet If Reason be nobility in Man, Can aught be more ignoble than the Man Whom they delight in, blinded as he is By prejudice, the miserable slave Of low ambition, or distempered love?” In such strange passion (if I may once more Review the past) I warred against myself, A Bigot to a New Idolatry; Like a cowled Monk who hath forsworn the world, Zealously labour’d to cut off my heart From all the sources of her former strength; And as by simple waving of a Wand The wizard instantaneously dissolves Palace or grove, even so could I unsoul As readily by syllogistic words Those mysteries of being which have made,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 321 And shall continue evermore to make, Of the whole human race one brotherhood. What wonder, then, if to a mind so far Perverted, even the visible Universe Fell under the dominion of a taste Less Spiritual, with microscopic view Was scanned, as I had scanned the moral world? Oh Soul of Nature, excellent and fair! That didst rejoice with me, with whom I too Rejoiced, through early Youth, before the winds And roaring waters, and in lights and shades That marched and countermarched about the hills In glorious apparition, powers on whom I daily waited, now all eye and now All ear; but never long without the heart Employed, and Man’s unfolding intellect! Oh Soul of Nature! that, by laws divine Sustained and governed, still dost overflow With an impassioned life, what feeble ones Walk on this earth! how feeble have I been When thou wert in thy strength! Nor this through stroke Of human suffering, such as justifies Remissness and inaptitude of mind, But through presumption; even in pleasure pleased Unworthily, disliking here, and there Liking; by rules of mimic Art transferred To things above all Art, but more,—for this, Although a strong infection of the age, Was never much my habit—giving way To a comparison of scene with scene, Bent overmuch on superficial things, Pampering myself with meagre novelties Of colour and proportion, to the moods Of time and season, to the moral power, The affections and the spirit of the Place, Insensible. Nor only did the love Of sitting thus in judgment interrupt My deeper feelings, but another cause, More subtile and less easily explained,

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322â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth That almost seems inherent in the Creature, A twofold frame of body and of mind. I speak in recollection of a time When the bodily eye, in every stage of life The most despotic of our senses, gained Such strength in me as often held my mind In absolute dominion. Gladly here, Entering upon abstruser Argument, Could I endeavour to unfold the means Which Nature studiously employs to thwart This tyranny, summons all the senses each To counteract the other, and themselves, And makes them all, and the Objects with which all Are conversant, subservient in their turn To the great ends of Liberty and Power. But leave we this: enough that my delights (Such as they were) were sought insatiably. Vivid the transport, vivid, though not profound; I roamed from hill to hill, from rock to rock, Still craving combinations of new forms, New pleasure, wider empire for the sight, Proud of her own endowments, and rejoiced To lay the inner faculties asleep. Amid the turns and counterturns, the strife And various trials of our complex being, As we grow up, such thraldom of that sense Seems hard to shun. And yet I knew a Maid, A young Enthusiast, who escaped these bonds; Her eye was not the Mistress of her heart; Far less did rules prescribed by passive taste Or barren intermeddling subtleties Perplex her mind; but, wise as women are When genial circumstance hath favoured them, She welcomed what was given and craved no more; Whate’er the scene presented to her view, That was the best, to that she was attuned By her benign simplicity of life And through a perfect happiness of Soul Whose variegated feelings were in this

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 323 Sisters, that they were each some new delight. Birds in the bower, and lambs in the green field, Could they have known her, would have loved; methought Her very presence such a sweetness breathed That flowers, and trees, and even the silent hills, And every thing she looked on should have had An intimation how she bore herself Towards them and to all creatures. God delights In such a being; for her common thoughts Are piety, her life is gratitude. Even like this Maid, before I was called forth From the retirement of my native hills, I loved whate’er I saw: nor lightly loved, But most intensely; never dreamt of aught More grand, more fair, more exquisitely framed Than those few nooks to which my happy feet Were limited. I had not at that time Lived long enough, nor in the least survived The first diviner influence of this world As it appears to unaccustomed eyes. Worshipping then among the depth of things As piety ordained, could I submit To measured admiration, or to aught That should preclude humility and love? I felt, observed, and pondered; did not judge, Yea, never thought of judging; with the gift Of all this glory filled and satisfied. And afterwards, when through the gorgeous Alps Roaming, I carried with me the same heart: In truth, the degradation, howsoe’er Induced, effect in whatsoe’er degree Of custom that prepares a partial scale In which the little oft outweighs the great, Or any other cause that hath been named; Or lastly, aggravated by the times, And their empassioned sounds, which well might make The milder minstrelsies of rural scenes Inaudible, was transient; I had known Too forcibly, too early in my life,

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324â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Visitings of imaginative power For this to last: I shook the habit off Entirely and for ever, and again. In Nature’s presence stood, as now I stand, A sensitive Being, a creative Soul. There are in our existence spots of time, That with distinct pre-eminence retain A renovating virtue, whence, depressed By false opinion and contentious thought, Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight, In trivial occupations, and the round Of ordinary intercourse, our minds Are nourished and invisibly repaired; A virtue by which pleasure is inhanced, That penetrates, enables us to mount, When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen. This efficacious Spirit chiefly lurks Among those passages of life that give Profoundest knowledge how and to what point The mind is lord and master—outward sense The obedient Servant of her will. Such moments Are scattered every where, taking their date From our first Childhood. I remember well That once, while yet my inexperienced hand Could scarcely hold a bridle, with proud hopes I mounted, and we journied towards the hills: An ancient Servant of my Father’s house Was with me, my encourager and Guide. We had not travelled long ere some mischance Disjoined me from my Comrade, and, through fear Dismounting, down the rough and stony Moor I led my horse, and, stumbling on, at length Came to a bottom, where in former times A Murderer had been hung in iron chains. The Gibbet mast had mouldered down, the bones And iron case were gone, but on the turf Hard by, soon after that fell deed was wrought, Some unknown hand had carved the Murderer’s name. The monumental Letters were inscribed

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 325 In times long past, but still from year to year, By superstition of the neighbourhood, The grass is cleared away, and to that hour The characters were fresh and visible. A casual glance had shewn them, and I fled, Faultering and faint and ignorant of the road: Then, reascending the bare common, saw A naked Pool that lay beneath the hills, The Beacon on its summit, and, more near, A Girl who bore a Pitcher on her head, And seemed with difficult steps to force her way Against the blowing wind. It was in truth An ordinary sight; but I should need Colors and words that are unknown to man To paint the visionary dreariness Which, while I looked all round for my lost Guide, Invested Moorland waste and naked Pool, The Beacon crowning the lone eminence, The Female and her garments vexed and tossed By the strong wind.—When, in the blessed hours Of early love, the loved One at my side, I roamed, in daily presence of this scene, Upon the naked Pool and dreary Crags, And on the melancholy Beacon, fell A spirit of pleasure, and Youth’s golden gleam; And think ye not with radiance more sublime For these remembrances, and for the power They had left behind? So feeling comes in aid Of feeling, and diversity of strength Attends us, if but once we have been strong. Oh! mystery of Man, from what a depth Proceed thy honors! I am lost, but see In simple child-hood something of the base On which thy greatness stands; but this I feel, That from thyself it comes, that thou must give, Else never canst receive. The days gone by Return upon me almost from the dawn Of life: the hiding-places of Man’s power Open; I would approach them, but they close.

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326â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth I see by glimpses now; when age comes on May scarcely see at all, and I would give, While yet we may, as far as words can give, Substance and life to what I feel, enshrining, Such is my hope, the spirit of the past For future restoration.— Yet another Of these memorials. One Christmas-time, On the glad Eve of its dear holidays, Feverish, and tired, and restless, I went forth Into the fields, impatient for the sight Of those led Palfreys that should bear us home, My Brothers and myself. There rose a Crag That, from the meeting point of two highways Ascending, overlooked them both, far stretched; Thither, uncertain on which road to fix My expectation, thither I repaired, Scout-like, and gained the summit; ’twas a day Tempestuous, dark, and wild, and on the grass I sate, half-sheltered by a naked wall; Upon my right hand couched a single sheep, Upon my left a blasted hawthorn stood: With those Companions at my side, I sate, Straining my eyes intensely, as the mist Gave intermitting prospect of the copse And plain beneath. Ere we to School returned That dreary time, ere we had been ten days Sojourners in my Father’s House, he died, And I and my three Brothers, Orphans then, Followed his Body to the Grave. The Event, With all the sorrow that it brought, appeared A chastisement; and when I called to mind That day so lately passed, when from the Crag I looked in such anxiety of hope, With trite reflections of morality, Yet in the deepest passion, I bowed low To God, who thus corrected my desires; And afterwards, the wind and sleety rain And all the business of the Elements,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 327 The single Sheep, and the one blasted tree, And the bleak music of that old stone wall, The noise of wood and water, and the mist That on the line of each of those two Roads Advanced in such indisputable shapes; All these were kindred spectacles and sounds To which I oft repaired, and thence would drink As at a fountain; and on winter nights, Down to this very time, when storm and rain Beat on my roof, or haply at noon-day, While in a grove I walk whose lofty trees, Laden with summer’s thickest foliage, rock In a strong wind, some working of the spirit, Some inward agitations, thence are brought, Whate’er their office, whether to beguile Thoughts over-busy in the course they took, Or animate an hour of vacant ease.

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Book Thirteenth Subject concluded From Nature doth emotion come, and moods Of calmness equally are Nature’s gift: This is her glory; these two attributes Are sister horns that constitute her strength. Hence Genius, born to thrive by interchange Of peace and excitation, finds in her His best and purest friend, from her receives That energy by which he seeks the truth, From her that happy stillness of the mind Which fits him to receive it, when unsought. Such benefit the humblest intellects Partake of, each in their degree: ’tis mine To speak of what myself have known and felt. Smooth task! for words find easy way, inspired By gratitude and confidence in truth. Long time in search of knowledge did I range The field of human life, in heart and mind Benighted, but the dawn beginning now To reappear, ’twas proved that not in vain

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328â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth I had been taught to reverence a Power That is the visible quality and shape And image of right reason, that matures Her processes by steadfast laws, gives birth To no impatient or fallacious hopes, No heat of passion or excessive zeal, No vain conceits,—provokes to no quick turns Of self-applauding intellect,—but trains To meekness, and exalts by humble faith; Holds up before the mind, intoxicate With present objects, and the busy dance Of things that pass away, a temperate shew Of objects that endure; and by this course Disposes her, when over-fondly set On throwing off incumbrances, to seek In Man, and in the frame of social life, Whate’er there is desireable and good Of kindred permanence, unchanged in form And function, or through strict vicissitude Of life and death revolving. Above all Were re-established now those watchful thoughts Which (seeing little worthy or sublime In what the Historian’s pen so much delights To blazon, Power and Energy detached From moral purpose) early tutored me To look with feelings of fraternal love Upon the unassuming things that hold A silent station in this beauteous world. Thus moderated, thus composed, I found Once more in Man an object of delight, Of pure imagination, and of love; And, as the horizon of my mind enlarged, Again I took the intellectual eye For my Instructor, studious more to see Great Truths, than touch and handle little ones. Knowledge was given accordingly; my trust Became more firm in feelings that had stood The test of such a trial; clearer far My sense of excellence—of right and wrong:

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 329 The promise of the present time retired Into its true proportion; sanguine schemes, Ambitious projects, pleased me less; I sought For present good in life’s familiar face, And built thereon my hopes of good to come. With settling judgments now of what would last And what must disappear, prepared to find Presumption, folly, madness, in the Men Who thrust themselves upon the passive world As Rulers of the world, to see in these, Even when the public welfare is their aim, Plans without thought, or built on theories Vague and unsound, and having brought the Books Of modern Statists to their proper test, Life, human life with all its sacred claims Of sex and age, and heaven-descended rights Mortal, or those beyond the reach of death; And having thus discerned how dire a thing Is worshipped in that Idol proudly named “The Wealth of Nations,” where alone that wealth Is lodged, and how encreased; and having gained A more judicious knowledge of the worth And dignity of individual Man, No composition of the brain, but Man Of whom we read, the Man whom we behold With our own eyes—I could not but enquire, Not with less interest than heretofore, But greater, though in Spirit more subdued, Why is this glorious Creature to be found One only in ten thousand? What one is, Why may not millions be? What bars are thrown By Nature in the way of such a hope? Our animal appetites, and daily wants, Are these obstructions insurmountable? If not, then others vanish into air. “Inspect the basis of the social Pile: Enquire,” said I, “how much of mental Power And genuine virtue they possess who live By bodily toil, labour exceeding far

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330â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Their due proportion, under all the weight Of that injustice which upon ourselves Ourselves entail.” Such estimate to frame I chiefly looked (what need to look beyond?) Among the natural Abodes of men, Fields with their rural works, recalled to mind My earliest notices, with these compared The observations made in later youth, And to that day continued.—For the time Had never been when throes of mightiest Nations And the world’s tumult unto me could yield, How far soe’er transported and possessed, Full measure of content; but still I craved An intermingling of distinct regards And truths of individual sympathy Nearer ourselves. Such often might be gleaned From the great City, else it must have proved To me a heart-depressing wilderness; But much was wanting; therefore did I turn To you, ye pathways, and ye lonely roads; Sought you enriched with every thing I prized, With human kindnesses and simple joys. Oh! next to one dear State of bliss, vouchsafed Alas! to few in this untoward world, The bliss of walking daily in Life’s prime Through field or forest with the Maid we love, While yet our hearts are young, while yet we breathe Nothing but happiness; in some lone nook, Deep vale, or any where, the home of both, From which it would be misery to stir; Oh! next to such enjoyment of our youth, In my esteem, next to such dear delight Was that of wandering on from day to day Where I could meditate in peace, and cull Knowledge that step by step might lead me on To wisdom; or, as lightsome as a Bird Wafted upon the wind from distant lands, Sing notes of greeting to strange fields or groves, Which lacked not voice to welcome me in turn;

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 331 And when that pleasant toil had ceased to please, Converse with men, where if we meet a face We almost meet a friend: on naked heaths With long long ways before, by Cottage bench Or well-spring, where the weary Traveller rests. Who doth not love to follow with his eye The windings of a public way? the sight Hath wrought on my imagination since the morn Of childhood, when a disappearing line, One daily present to my eyes, that crossed The naked summit of a far-off hill Beyond the limits that my feet had trod, Was like an invitation into space Boundless, or guide into eternity! Yes, something of the grandeur which invests The Mariner who sails the roaring sea Through storm and darkness, early in my mind Surrounded, too, the Wanderers of the Earth— Grandeur as much, and loveliness far more. Awed have I been by strolling Bedlamites, From many other uncouth Vagrants (passed In fear) have walked with quicker step; but why Take note of this? When I began to enquire, To watch and question those I met, and speak Without reserve to them, the lonely roads Were open Schools in which I daily read With most delight the passions of mankind, Whether by words, looks, sighs, or tears revealed; There saw into the depth of human souls— Souls that appear to have no depth at all To careless eyes. And now—convinced at heart How little those formalities, to which With overweening trust alone we give The name of Education, have to do With real feeling and just sense, how vain A correspondence with the talking world Proves to the most, and called to make good search If man’s estate, by doom of Nature yoked With toil, is therefore yoked with ignorance,

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332â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth If virtue be indeed so hard to rear, And intellectual strength so rare a boon— I prized such walks still more, for there I found Hope to my hope, and to my pleasure peace And steadiness; and healing and repose To every angry passion. There I heard, From mouths of men obscure and lowly, truths Replete with honour; sounds in unison With loftiest promises of good and fair. There are who think that strong affections, love Known by whatever name, is falsely deemed A gift, to use a term which they would use, Of vulgar nature, that its growth requires Retirement, leisure, language purified By manners studied and elaborate; That whoso feels such passion in its strength Must live within the very light and air Of courteous usages refined by Art. True is it where oppression worse than death Salutes the Being at his birth, where grace Of culture hath been utterly unknown, And poverty and labour in excess From day to day preoccupy the ground Of the affections, and to Nature’s self Oppose a deeper Nature; there indeed Love cannot be, nor does it thrive with ease Among the close and overcrowded haunts Of cities, where the human heart is sick And the eye feeds it not, and cannot feed. —Yes, in those wanderings deeply did I feel How we mislead each other; above all, How Books mislead us, seeking their reward From judgments of the wealthy Few, who see By artificial lights; how they debase The Many for the pleasure of those Few; Effeminately level down the truth To certain general notions for the sake Of being understood at once, or else Through want of better knowledge in the heads

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 333 That framed them, flattering self-conceit with words That, while they most ambitiously set forth Extrinsic differences, the outward marks Whereby Society has parted man From man, neglect the universal heart. Here, calling up to mind what then I saw, A youthful Traveller, and see daily now In the familiar circuit of my home, Here might I pause and bend in reverence To Nature, and the power of human minds, To Men as they are Men within themselves. How oft high service is performed within, When all the external Man is rude in shew! Not like a Temple rich with pomp and gold, But a mere mountain Chapel that protects Its simple Worshippers from sun and shower. Of these, said I, shall be my song, of these, If future years mature me for the task, Will I record the praises, making Verse Deal boldly with substantial things; in truth And sanctity of passion speak of these, That justice may be done, obeisance paid Where it is due: thus haply shall I teach, Inspire, through unadulterated ears Pour rapture, tenderness, and hope, my theme No other than the very heart of Man As found among the best of those who live Not unexalted by religious faith, Nor uninformed by Books, good books, though few, In Nature’s presence: thence may I select Sorrow, that is not sorrow, but delight, And miserable love that is not pain To hear of, for the glory that redounds Therefrom to human kind and what we are. Be mine to follow with no timid step Where knowledge leads me; it shall be my pride That I have dared to tread this holy ground, Speaking no dream, but things oracular, Matter not lightly to be heard by those

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334â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Who to the letter of the outward promise Do read the invisible Soul, by Men adroit In speech, and for communion with the world Accomplished, minds whose faculties are then Most active when they are most eloquent, And elevated most, when most admired. Men may be found of other mold than these, Who are their own Upholders, to themselves Encouragement, and energy, and will, Expressing liveliest thoughts in lively words As native passion dictates. Others, too, There are, among the walks of homely life, Still higher, men for contemplation framed, Shy, and unpractised in the strife of phrase, Meek men, whose very souls perhaps would sink Beneath them, summoned to such intercourse: Theirs is the language of the heavens, the power, The thought, the image, and the silent joy; Words are but under-agents in their Souls; When they are grasping with their greatest strength They do not breathe among them; this I speak In gratitude to God, who feeds our hearts For his own service; knoweth, loveth us When we are unregarded by the world. Also, about this time did I receive Convictions still more strong than heretofore Not only that the inner frame is good, And graciously composed, but that, no less, Nature for all conditions wants not power To consecrate, if we have eyes to see, The outside of her Creatures, and to breathe Grandeur upon the very humblest face Of human life. I felt that the array Of act and circumstance, and visible form, Is mainly, to the pleasure of the mind, What passion makes them, that meanwhile the forms Of Nature have a passion in themselves That intermingles with those works of man To which she summons him; although the works

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 335 Be mean, have nothing lofty of their own; And that the Genius of the Poet hence May boldly take his way among mankind Wherever Nature leads, that he hath stood By Nature’s side among the Men of old, And so shall stand for ever. Dearest Friend, If thou partake the animating faith That Poets, even as Prophets, each with each Connected in a mighty scheme of truth, Have each his own peculiar faculty, Heaven’s gift, a sense that fits him to perceive Objects unseen before, thou wilt not blame The humblest of this band who dares to hope That unto him hath also been vouchsafed An insight, that in some sort he possesses A Privilege, whereby a Work of his, Proceeding from a source of untaught things, Creative and enduring, may become A Power like one of Nature’s. To a hope Not less ambitious once among the Wilds Of Sarum’s Plain my youthful Spirit was raised; There, as I ranged at will the pastoral downs Trackless and smooth, or paced the bare white roads Lengthening in solitude their dreary line, Time with his retinue of ages fled Backwards, nor checked his flight until I saw Our dim Ancestral Past in Vision clear; Saw multitudes of men, and here and there A single Briton clothed in Wolf-skin vest, With shield and stone-axe, stride across the wold; The voice of Spears was heard, the rattling spear Shaken by arms of mighty bone, in strength, Long mouldered, of barbaric majesty. I called on Darkness—but before the word Was uttered, midnight darkness seemed to take All objects from my sight; and lo! again The Desart visible by dismal flames; It is the Sacrificial Altar, fed With living Men—how deep the groans! the voice

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336â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of those that crowd the giant wicker thrills The monumental hillocks, and the pomp Is for both worlds, the living and the dead. At other moments (for through that wide waste Three summer days I roamed) where’er the Plan Was figured o’er with circles, lines, or mounds, That yet survive, a work, as some divine, Shaped by the Druids, so to represent Their knowledge of the heavens, and image forth The constellations; gently was I charmed Into a waking dream, a reverie That with believing eyes, where’er I turned, Beheld long-bearded Teachers with white wands Uplifted, pointing to the starry sky Alternately, and Plain below, while breath Of music swayed their motions, and the Waste Rejoiced with them and me in those sweet Sounds. This for the past, and things that may be viewed Or fancied, in the obscurity of years From monumental hints: and thou, O Friend! Pleased with some unpremeditated strains That served those wanderings to beguile, hast sad That then and there my mind had exercised Upon the vulgar forms of present things, The actual world of our familiar days, Yet higher power, had caught from them a tone, An image, and a character, by books Not hitherto reflected. Call we this A partial judgement—and yet why? for then We were as Strangers; and I may not speak Thus wrongfully of verse, however rude, Which on thy young imagination, trained In the great City, broke like light from far. Moreover, each man’s mind is to herself Witness and judge; and I remember well That in Life’s every-day appearances I seemed about this time to gain clear sight Of a new world, a world, too, that was fit To be transmitted and to other eyes Made visible, as ruled by those fixed laws

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 337 Whence spiritual dignity originates, Which do both give it being and maintain A balance, an ennobling interchange Of action from without, and from within; The excellence, pure function, and best power Both of the object seen, and eye that sees.

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Book Fourteenth Conclusion In one of those Excursions (may they ne’er Fade from remembrance!), through the Northern tracts Of Cambria ranging with a youthful Friend, I left Bethgellert’s huts at couching-time, And westward took my way, to see the sun Rise from the top of Snowdon. To the door Of a rude Cottage at the Mountain’s base We came, and rouzed the Shepherd who attends The adventurous Stranger’s steps, a trusty Guide; Then, cheered by short refreshment, sallied forth. —It was a close, warm, breezeless summer night, Wan, dull, and glaring, with a dripping fog Low-hung and thick, that covered all the sky. But, undiscouraged, we began to climb The mountain-side. The mist soon girt us round, And, after ordinary Travellers’ talk With our Conductor, pensively we sank Each into commerce with his private thoughts: Thus did we breast the ascent, and by myself Was nothing either seen or heard that checked Those musings or diverted, save that once The Shepherd’s Lurcher, who, among the crags, Had to his joy unearthed a Hedgehog, teased His coiled-up Prey with barkings turbulent. This small adventure, for even such it seemed In that wild place, and at the dead of night, Being over and forgotten, on we wound In silence as before. With forehead bent Earthward, as if in opposition set Against an enemy, I panted up

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338â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With eager pace, and no less eager thoughts. Thus might we wear a midnight hour away, Ascending at loose distance each from each And I, as chanced, the foremost of the Bard: When at my feet the ground appeared to brighten, And with a step or two seemed brighter still; Nor was time given to ask, or learn, the cause; For instantly a light upon the turf Fell like a flash; and lo! as I looked up, The Moon hung naked in a firmament Of azure without cloud, and at my feet Rested a silent sea of hoary mist. A hundred hills their dusky backs upheavd All over this still Ocean; and beyond, Far, far beyond, the solid vapours stretched, In Headlands, tongues, and promontory shapes, Into the main Atlantic, that appeared To dwindle, and give up his majesty, Usurped upon far as the sight could reach Not so the ethereal Vault; encroachment none Was there, nor loss; only the inferior stars Had disappeared, or shed a fainter light In the clear presence of the full-orbed Moon; Who, from her sovereign elevation, gazed Upon the billowy ocean, as it lay All meek and silent, save that through a rift Not distant from the shore whereon we stood, A fixed, abysmal, gloomy breathing-place, Mounted the roar of waters—torrents—streams Innumerable, roaring with one voice! Heard over earth and sea, and in that hour, For so it seemed, felt by the starry heavens. When into air had partially dissolved That Vision, given to Spirits of the night, And three chance human Wanderers, in calm thought Reflected, it appeared to me the type Of a majestic Intellect, its acts And its possessions, what it has and craves, What in itself it is, and would become.

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 339 There I beheld the emblem of a Mind That feeds upon infinity, that broods Over the dark abyss, intent to hear Its voices issuing forth to silent light In one continuous stream; a mind sustained By recognitions of transcendent power In sense, conducting to ideal form; In soul, of more than mortal privilege. One function, above all, of such a mind Had Nature shadowed there, by putting forth, ’Mid circumstances awful and sublime, That mutual domination which she loves To exert upon the face of outward things, So moulded, joined, abstracted; so endowed With interchangeable supremacy, That Men least sensitive see, hear, perceive, And cannot chuse but feel. The power which all Acknowledge when thus moved, which Nature thus To bodily sense exhibits, is the express Resemblance of that glorious faculty That higher minds bear with them as their own. This is the very spirit in which they deal With the whole compass of the universe: They, from their native selves, can send abroad Kindred mutations; for themselves create A like existence; and whene’er it dawns Created for them, catch it;—or are caught By its inevitable mastery, Like angels stopped upon the wing by sound Of harmony from heaven’s remotest spheres. Them the enduring and the transient both Serve to exalt; they build up greatest things From least suggestions; ever on the watch, Willing to work and to be wrought upon, They need not extraordinary calls To rouse them, in a world of life they live; By sensible impressions not enthralled, But, by their quickening impulse, made more prompt To hold fit converse with the spiritual world,

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340â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And with the generations of mankind Spread over time, past, present, and to come, Age after age, till Time shall be no more. Such minds are truly from the Deity, For they are powers; and hence the highest bliss That flesh can know is theirs,—the consciousness Of whom they are, habitually infused Through every image, and through every thought, And all affections by communion raised From earth to heaven, from human to divine. Hence endless occupation for the Soul, Whether discursive or intuitive; Hence chearfulness for acts of daily life, Emotions which best foresight need not fear, Most worthy then of trust when most intense: Hence, amid ills that vex, and wrongs that crush Our hearts, if here the words of holy Writ May with fit reverence be applied, that peace Which passeth understanding,—that repose In moral judgements which from this pure source Must come, or will by Man be sought in vain. Oh! who is he that hath his whole life long Preserved, enlarged, this freedom in himself? For this alone is genuine Liberty. Where is the favoured Being who hath held That course, unchecked, unerring, and untired, In one perpetual progress smooth and bright? —A humbler destiny have we retraced, And told of lapse and hesitating choice, And backward wanderings along thorny ways: Yet, compassed round by Mountain Solitudes Within whose solemn temple I received My earliest visitations, careless then Of what was given me; and which now I range A meditative, oft a suffering Man, Do I declare, in accents which, from truth Deriving chearful confidence, shall blend Their modulation with these vocal streams, That, whatsoever falls my better mind

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 341 Revolving with the accidents of life May have sustained, that, howsoe’er misled, Never did I, in quest of right and wrong, Tamper with conscience from a private aim; Nor was in any public hope the dupe Of selfish passions; nor did ever yield, Wilfully, to mean cares or low pursuits; But shrunk with apprehensive jealousy From every combination which might aid The tendency, too potent in itself, Of use and custom to bow down the Soul Under a growing weight of vulgar sense, And substitute a universe of death For that which moves with light and life informed, Actual, divine, and true. To fear and love, To love as prime and chief, for there fear ends, Be this ascribed; to early intercourse In presence of sublime or beautiful forms With the adverse principles of pain and joy— Evil, as one is rashly named by men Who know not what they speak. By love subsists All lasting grandeur, by pervading love; That gone, we are as dust.—Behold the fields In balmy spring-time full of rising flowers And joyous Creatures; see that Pair, the lamb And the lamb’s Mother, and their tender ways Shall touch thee to the heart; thou callest this love, And not inaptly so, for love it is, Far as it carries thee. In some green Bower Rest, and be not alone, but have thou there The One who is thy choice of all the world: There linger, listening, gazing with delight Impassioned, but delight how pitiable! Unless this love by a still higher love Be hallowed, love that breathes not without awe; Love that adores, but on the knees of prayer, By heaven inspired; that frees from chains the soul, Bearing in union with the purest, best Of earth-born passions, on the wings of praise,

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342â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A mutual tribute to the Almighty’s Throne. This spiritual love acts not, nor can exist Without Imagination, which in truth Is but another name for absolute power And clearest insight, amplitude of mind, And reason, in her most exalted mood. This faculty hath been the feeding source Of our long labor: we have traced the stream From the blind cavern whence is faintly heard Its natal murmur; followed it to light And open day; accompanied its course Among the ways of Nature; for a time Lost sight of it, bewildered and engulphed; Then given it greeting as it rose once more In strength, reflecting from its placid breast The works of man, and face of human life; And lastly, from its progress have we drawn Faith in life endless, the sustaining thought Of human being, Eternity, and God. —Imagination having been our theme, So also hath that intellectual love, For they are each in each, and cannot stand Dividually.—Here must thou be, O Man! Power to thyself; no Helper hast thou here; Here keepest thou in singleness thy state; No other can divide with thee this work; No secondary hand can intervene To fashion this ability; ’tis thine, The prime and vital principle is thine In the recesses of thy nature, far From any reach of outward fellowship, Else is not thine at all. But joy to him, Oh, joy to him who here hath sown, hath laid Here the foundation of his future years! For all that friendship, all that love can do, All that a darling countenance can look Or dear voice utter to complete the man, Perfect him, made imperfect in himself, All shall be his: and he whose soul hath risen

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 343 Up to the height of feeling intellect Shall want no humbler tenderness, his heart Be tender as a nursing Mother’s heart; Of female softness shall his life be full, Of humble cares, and delicate desires, Mild interests and gentlest sympathies. Child of my Parents! Sister of my Soul! Thanks in sincerest Verse have been elsewhere Poured out for all the early tenderness Which I from thee imbibed: and ’tis most true That later seasons owed to thee no less; For spite of thy sweet influence and the touch Of kindred hands that opened out the springs Of genial thought in childhood, and in spite Of all that, unassisted, I had marked, In life or nature, of dose charms minute That win their way into the heart by stealth, Still, to the very going out of Youth, I too exclusively esteemed that love, And sought that beauty, which, as Milton sings, Hath terror in it. Thou didst soften down This over-sternness: rut for thee, dear Friend, My soul, too reckless of mild grace, had stood In her original self too confident, Retained too long a countenance severe, A rock with torrents roaring, with the clouds Familiar, and a favorite of the Stars: But thou didst plant its crevices with flowers, Hang it with shrubs that twinkle in the breeze, And teach the little birds to build their nests And warble in its chambers. At a time When Nature, destined to remain so long Foremost in my affections, had fallen back Into a second place, pleased to become A handmaid to a nobler than herself, When every day brought with it some new sense Of exquisite regard for common things, And all the earth was budding with these gifts Of more refined humanity, thy breath,

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344â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Dear Sister, was a kind of gentler spring That went before my steps. Thereafter came One, whom with thee friendship had early paired; She came, no more a Phantom to adorn A moment, but an inmate of the heart, And yet a Spirit, there for me enshrined To penetrate the lofty and the low; Even as one essence of pervading light Shines in the brightest of ten thousand stars, And the meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp Couched in the dewy grass. With such a theme, Coleridge! with this my argument, of thee Shall I be silent? O capacious Soul! Placed on this earth to love and understand, And from thy presence shed the light of love, Shall I be mute ere thou be spoken of? Thy kindred influence to my heart of hearts Did also find its way. Thus fear relaxed Her overweening grasp, thus thoughts and things In the self-haunting spirit learned to take More rational proportions; mystery, The incumbent mystery of sense and soul, Of Life and death, time and eternity, Admitted more habitually a mild Interposition—a serene delight In closelier gathering cares, such as become A human creature, howsoe’er endowed, Poet, or destined for a humbler name; And so the deep enthusiastic joy, The rapture of the hallelujah sent From all that breathes and is, was chastened, stemmed, And balanced by pathetic truth, by trust In hopeful reason, leaning on the stay Of Providence;—and in reverence for duty, Here, if need be, struggling with storms, and there Strewing in peace Life’s humblest ground with herbs At every season green, sweet at all hours. And now, O Friend! this History is brought

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 345 To its appointed close: the discipline And consummation of a Poet’s mind In every thing that stood most prominent Have faithfully been pictured; we have reached The time (our guiding object from the first) When we may, not presumptuously, I hope, Suppose my powers so far confirmed, and such My knowledge, as to make me capable Of building up a Work that shall endure; Yet much hath been omitted, as need was, Of books how much! and even of the other wealth That is collected among woods and fields Far more: for Nature’s secondary grace Hath hitherto been barely touched upon: The charm more superficial that attends Her works, as they present to Fancy’s choice Apt illustrations of the moral world Caught at a glance or traced with curious pains. Finally, and above all, O Friend (I speak With due regret), how much is overlooked In human nature and her subtile ways As studied first in our own hearts, and then In life among the passions of mankind, Varying their composition and their hue, Where’er we move, under the diverse shapes That individual character presents To an attentive eye! For progress meet Along this intricate and difficult path, Whate’er was wanting, something had I gained As One of many School-fellows, compelled In hardy independance to stand up Amid conflicting interests, and the shock Of various tempers, to endure and note What was not understood though known to be: Among the mysteries of love and hate, Honour and shame, looking to right and left, Unchecked by innocence too delicate, And moral notions too intolerant, Sympathies too contracted. Hence when called

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346â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To take a station among Men, the step Was easier, the transition more secure, More profitable also; for the mind Learns from such timely exercise to keep In wholesome separation the two natures, The one that feels, the other that observes. â•… Yet one word more of personal concern— Since I withdrew unwillingly from France I led an undomestic Wanderer’s life, In London chiefly harboured; whence I roamed, Tarrying at will in many a pleasant spot Of rural England’s cultivated Vales Or Cambrian solitudes.— A Youth (he bore The name of Calvert, it shall live if words Of mine can give it life) in firm belief That by endowments not from me withheld Good might be furthered, in his last decay Withdrawing, and from kindred whom he loved, A part of no redundant Patrimony, By a bequest sufficient for my needs Enabled me to pause for choice, and walk At large and unrestrained, nor damped too soon By mortal cares. Himself no Poet, yet Far less a common Follower of the world, He deemed that my pursuits and labors lay Apart from all that leads to wealth, or even A necessary maintenance ensures Without some hazard to the finer sense; —He cleared a passage for me, and the stream Flowed in the bent of Nature. Having now Told what best merits mention, further pains Our present purpose seems not to require, And I have other tasks. Recall to mind The mood in which this labour was begun. O Friend! the termination of my course Is nearer now, much nearer; yet even then, In that distraction, and intense desire,

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The Prelude (1824–1829)â•… 347 I said unto the life which I had lived, Where art thou? Hear I not a voice from thee Which ’tis reproach to hear? Anon I rose As if on wings, and saw beneath me stretched Vast prospect of the world which I had been And was; and hence this Song, which like a Lark I have protracted, in the unwearied heavens Singing, and often with more plaintive voice To Earth attempered and her deep-drawn sighs, Yet centering all in love, and in the end All gratulant, if rightly understood. Whether to me shall be allotted life, And with life, power, to accomplish aught of worth That will be deemed no insufficient plea For having given this Story of myself, Is all uncertain: but, beloved Friend! When, looking back, thou seest, in clearer view Than any liveliest sight of yesterday, That summer under whose indulgent skies Upon smooth Quantock’s airy ridge we roved Unchecked, or loitered ’mid her sylvan Combs, Thou in bewitching words with happy heart Didst chaunt the Vision of that Ancient Man, The bright-eyed Mariner, and rueful woes Didst utter of the Lady Christabel; And I, Associate with such labor, steeped In soft forgetfulness the live-long hours, Murmuring of Him who, joyous hap, was found, After the perils of his moonlight ride, Near the loud Waterfall; or her who sate In misery near the miserable Thorn; When Thou dost to that Summer turn thy thoughts, And hast before thee all which then we were, To thee, in memory of that happiness, It will be known, by thee at least, my Friend, Felt, that the History of a Poet’s mind Is labour not unworthy of regard. To thee the Work shall justify itself. The last and later portions of this Gift

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348â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Have been prepared, not with the buoyant spirits That were our daily portion when we first Together wantoned in wild Poesy, But under pressure of a private grief Keen and enduring, which the mind and heart That in this meditative History Have been laid open needs must make me feel More deeply, yet enable me to bear More firmly; and a comfort now hath risen From hope that Thou art near, and wilt be soon Restored to us, in renovated health: When, after the first mingling of our tears, ’Mong other consolations, we may draw Some pleasure from this Offering of my love. Oh! yet a few short years of useful life, And all will be complete, thy race be run, Thy monument of glory will be raised; Then, though, too weak to tread the ways of truth, This Age fall back to old idolatry, Though Men return to servitude as fast As the tide ebbs, to ignominy and shame By Nations sink together, we shall still Find solace—knowing what we have learnt to know, Rich in true happiness if allowed to be Faithful alike in forwarding a day Of firmer trust, joint laborers in the Work (Should Providence such grace to us vouchsafe) Of their deliverance, surely yet to come. Prophets of Nature, we to them will speak A lasting inspiration, sanctified By reason, blest by faith: what we have loved Others will love, and we will teach them how, Instruct them how the mind of Man becomes A thousand times more beautiful than the earth On which he dwells, above this Frame of things (Which ’mid all revolutions in the hopes And fears of Men doth still remain unchanged) In beauty exalted, as it is itself Of quality and fabric more divine.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, (1820–1845) The River Duddon a series of

Sonnetsâ•› The River Duddon rises upon Wrynose Fell, on the confines of Westmorland, Cumberland, and Lancashire; and, serving as a boundary to the two latter counties, for the space of about twenty-five miles, enters the Irish sea, between the isle of Walney and the lordship of Millum.

I Not envying shades which haply yet may throw A grateful coolness round that rocky spring, Bandusia, once responsive to the string Of the Horatian lyre with babbling flow; Careless of flowers that in perennial blow Round the moist marge of Persian fountains cling; Heedless of Alpine torrents thundering Through icy portals radiant as heaven’s bow; I seek the birth-place of a native Stream.— All hail ye mountains, hail thou morning light! Better to breathe upon this aëry height Than pass in needless sleep from dream to dream; Pure flow the verse, pure, vigorous, free, and bright, For Duddon, long-lov’d Duddon, is my theme!

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II Child of the clouds! remote from every taint Of sordid industry thy lot is cast; Thine are the honors of the lofty waste; Not seldom, when with heat the valleys faint, Thy hand-maid Frost with spangled tissue quaint Thy cradle decks;—to chaunt thy birth, thou hast

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â•… WW’s notes all appeared in the first edition of the series in 1820. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820– 1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 49–53, and 99–111.

350â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth No meaner Poet than the whistling Blast, And Desolation is thy Patron-saint! She guards thee, ruthless Power! who would not spare Those mighty forests, once the bison’s screen, Where stalk’d the huge deer to his shaggy lair Through paths and alleys roofed with sombre green, Thousands of years before the silent air Was pierced by whizzing shaft of hunter keen!

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III How shall I paint thee?—Be this naked stone My seat while I give way to such intent; Pleased could my verse, a speaking monument, Make to the eyes of men thy features known. But as of all those tripping lambs not one Outruns his fellows, so hath nature lent To thy beginning nought that doth present Peculiar grounds for hope to build upon. To dignify the spot that gives thee birth, No sign of hoar Antiquity’s esteem Appears, and none of modern Fortune’s care; Yet thou thyself hast round thee shed a gleam Of brilliant moss, instinct with freshness rare; Prompt offering to thy Foster-mother, Earth!

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IV Take, cradled Nursling of the mountain, take This parting glance, no negligent adieu! A Protean change seems wrought while I pursue The curves, a loosely-scattered chain doth make; Or rather thou appear’st a glistering snake, Silent, and to the gazer’s eye untrue, Thridding with sinuous lapse the rushes, through Dwarf willows gliding, and by ferny brake. Starts from a dizzy steep the undaunted Rill Rob’d instantly in garb of snow-white foam; And laughing dares the Adventurer, who hath clomb So high, a rival purpose to fulfil;   “The deer alluded to is the Leigh, a gigantic species long since extinct.” WW

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 351 Else let the Dastard backward wend, and roam, Seeking less bold achievement, where he will! V Sole listener, Duddon! to the breeze that play’d With thy clear voice, I caught the fitful sound Wafted o’er sullen moss and craggy mound, Unfruitful solitudes, that seem’d to upbraid The sun in heaven!—but now, to form a shade For Thee, green alders have together wound Their foliage; ashes flung their arms around; And birch-trees risen in silver colonnade. And thou hast also tempted here to rise, ’Mid sheltering pines, this Cottage rude and grey; Whose ruddy children, by the mother’s eyes Carelessly watch’d, sport through the summer day, Thy pleas’d associates:—light as endless May On infant bosoms lonely Nature lies.

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VI Flowers Ere yet our course was graced with social trees It lacked not old remains of hawthorn bowers, Where small birds warbled to their paramours; And, earlier still, was heard the hum of bees; I saw them ply their harmless robberies, And caught the fragrance which the sundry flowers, Fed by the stream with soft perpetual showers, Plenteously yielded to the vagrant breeze. There bloomed the strawberry of the wilderness; The trembling eye-bright showed her sapphire blue, The thyme her purple like the blush of even; And, if the breath of some to no caress Invited, forth they peeped so fair to view, All kinds alike seemed favourites of Heaven.

  For WW’s note to ll. 10–11, see the notes at the end of this volume.

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352â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth VII “Change me, some God, into that breathing rose!” The love-sick Stripling fancifully sighs, The envied flower beholding, as it lies On Laura’s breast, in exquisite repose; Or he would pass into her Bird, that throws The darts of song from out its wiry cage; Enraptured,—could he for himself engage The thousandth part of what the Nymph bestows, And what the little careless Innocent Ungraciously receives. Too daring choice! There are whose calmer mind it would content To be an unculled flow’ret of the glen, Fearless of plough and scythe; or darkling wren, That tunes on Duddon’s banks her slender voice.

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VIII What aspect bore the Man who roved or fled, First of his tribe, to this dark dell—who first In this pellucid Current slaked his thirst? What hopes came with him? what designs were spread Along his path? His unprotected bed What dreams encompass’d? Was the Intruder nurs’d In hideous usages, and rites accurs’d, That thinned the living and disturbed the dead? No voice replies;—the earth, the air is mute; And Thou, blue Streamlet, murmuring yield’st no more Than a soft record that whatever fruit Of ignorance thou might’st witness heretofore, Thy function was to heal and to restore, To soothe and cleanse, not madden and pollute! IX The Stepping-stones The struggling Rill insensibly is grown Into a Brook of loud and stately march, Cross’d ever and anon by plank and arch; And, for like use, lo! what might seem a zone

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 353 Chosen for ornament; stone match’d with stone In studied symmetry, with interspace For the clear waters to pursue their race Without restraint.—How swiftly have they flown! Succeeding—still succeeding! Here the Child Puts, when the high-swoln Flood runs fierce and wild, His budding courage to the proof;—and here Declining Manhood learns to note the sly And sure encroachments of infirmity, Thinking how fast time runs, life’s end how near!

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X The Same Subject Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance With prompt emotion, urging them to pass; A sweet confusion checks the Shepherd-lass; Blushing she eyes the dizzy flood askance,— To stop ashamed—too timid to advance; She ventures once again—another pause! His outstretch’d hand He tauntingly withdraws— She sues for help with piteous utterance! Chidden she chides again; the thrilling touch Both feel when he renews the wish’d-for aid: Ah! if their fluttering hearts should stir too much, Should beat too strongly, both may be betrayed. The frolic Loves who, from yon high rock, see The struggle, clap their wings for victory!

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XI The Faëry Chasm No fiction was it of the antique age: A sky-blue stone, within this sunless cleft, Is of the very foot-marks unbereft Which tiny Elves impress’d;—on that smooth stage Dancing with all their brilliant equipage In secret revels—haply after theft Of some sweet babe, flower stolen, and coarse weed left, For the distracted mother to assuage Her grief with, as she might!—But, where, oh where

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354â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Is traceable a vestige of the notes That ruled those dances, wild in character? —Deep underground?—Or in the upper air, On the shrill wind of midnight? or where floats O’er twilight fields the autumnal gossamer?

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XII Hints for the Fancy On, loitering Muse!—The swift Stream chides us—on! Albeit his deep-worn channel doth immure Objects immense, pourtray’d in miniature, Wild shapes for many a strange comparison! Niagaras, Alpine passes, and anon Abodes of Naïads, calm abysses pure, Bright liquid mansions, fashion’d to endure When the broad Oak drops, a leafless skeleton, And the solidities of mortal pride, Palace and Tower, are crumbled into dust! —The Bard who walks with Duddon for his guide, Shall find such toys of Fancy thickly set:— Turn from the sight, enamour’d Muse—we must; Leave them—and, if thou canst, without regret!

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XIII Open Prospect Hail to the fields—with Dwellings sprinkled o’er, And one small Hamlet, under a green hill, Cluster’d with barn and byer, and spouting mill! A glance suffices,—should we wish for more, Gay June would scorn us;—but when bleak winds roar Through the stiff lance-like shoots of pollard ash, Dread swell of sound! loud as the gusts that lash The matted forests of Ontario’s shore By wasteful steel unsmitten, then would I Turn into port,—and, reckless of the gale, Reckless of angry Duddon sweeping by, While the warm hearth exalts the mantling ale, Laugh with the generous household heartily, At all the merry pranks of Donnerdale!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 355 XIV O Mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot Are privileged Inmates of deep solitude; Nor would the nicest Anchorite exclude A field or two of brighter green, or plot Of tillage-ground, that seemeth like a spot Of stationary sunshine:—thou hast view’d These only, Duddon! with their paths renew’d By fits and starts, yet this contents thee not. Thee hath some awful Spirit impelled to leave, Utterly to desert, the haunts of men, Though simple thy companions were and few; And through this wilderness a passage cleave Attended but by thy own voice, save when The Clouds and Fowls of the air thy way pursue!

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XV From this deep chasm—where quivering sun-beams play Upon its loftiest crags—mine eyes behold A gloomy Niche, capacious, blank, and cold; A concave free from shrubs and mosses grey; In semblance fresh, as if, with dire affray, Some Statue, placed amid these regions old For tutelary service, thence had rolled, Startling the flight of timid Yesterday! Was it by mortals sculptur’d?—weary slaves Of slow endeavour! or abruptly cast Into rude shape by fire, with roaring blast Tempestuously let loose from central caves? Or fashioned by the turbulence of waves, Then, when o’er highest hills the Deluge past? XVI American Tradition Such fruitless questions may not long beguile Or plague the fancy, ’mid the sculptured shows Conspicuous yet where Oroonoko flows; There would the Indian answer with a smile

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356â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Aim’d at the White Man’s ignorance, the while Of the Great Waters telling, how they rose, Covered the plains, and wandering where they chose, Mounted through every intricate defile, Triumphant.—Inundation wide and deep, O’er which his Fathers urged, to ridge and steep Else unapproachable, their buoyant way; And carved, on mural cliff’s undreaded side, Sun, moon, and stars, and beast of chase or prey; Whate’er they sought, shunn’d, loved, or deified!

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XVII Returnâ•› A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted Yew Perched on whose top the Danish Raven croaks; Aloft, the imperial Bird of Rome invokes Departed ages, shedding where he flew Loose fragments of wild wailing that bestrew The clouds, and thrill the chambers of the rocks, And into silence hush the timorous flocks, That slept so calmly while the nightly dew Moisten’d each fleece, beneath the twinkling stars: These couch’d ’mid that lone Camp on Hardknot’s height, Whose Guardians bent the knee to Jove and Mars: These near that mystic Round of Druid frame, Tardily sinking by its proper weight Deep into patient Earth, from whose smooth breast it came!

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XVIII Seathwaite Chapelâ•› Sacred Religion, “mother of form and fear,” Dread Arbitress of mutable respect, New rites ordaining when the old are wreck’d,   “See Humboldt’s Personal Narrative.” WW; he cites A Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent during the Years 1788–1804 (tr. H. M. Williams, 4 vols.; London, 1819) by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland.   WW’s lengthy note to this and the following sonnet is reproduced at the end of this volume.   For the literary allusions in this sonnet see Jackson, Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, pp. 106–107.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 357 Or cease to please the fickle worshipper; If one strong wish may be embosomed here, Mother of Love! for this deep vale, protect Truth’s holy lamp, pure source of bright effect, Gifted to purge the vapoury atmosphere That seeks to stifle it;—as in those days When this low Pile a Gospel Teacher knew, Whose good works formed an endless retinue: Such Priest as Chaucer sang in fervent lays; Such as the heaven-taught skill of Herbert drew; And tender Goldsmith crown’d with deathless praise!

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XIX Tributary Stream My frame hath often trembled with delight When hope presented some far-distant good, That seemed from heaven descending, like the flood Of yon pure waters, from their aëry height, Hurrying with lordly Duddon to unite; Who, ’mid a world of images imprest On the calm depth of his transparent breast, Appears to cherish most that Torrent white, The fairest, softest, liveliest of them all! And seldom hath ear listen’d to a tune More lulling than the busy hum of Noon, Swoln by that voice—whose murmur musical Announces to the thirsty fields a boon Dewy and fresh, till showers again shall fall.

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XX The Plain of Donnerdale The old inventive Poets, had they seen, Or rather felt, the entrancement that detains Thy waters, Duddon! ’mid these flow’ry plains, The still repose, the liquid lapse serene, Transferr’d to bowers imperishably green, Had beautified Elysium! But these chains Will soon be broken;—a rough course remains, Rough as the past; where Thou, of placid mien,

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358â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Innocuous as a firstling of a flock, And countenanced like a soft cerulean sky, Shalt change thy temper; and, with many a shock Given and received in mutual jeopardy, Dance like a Bacchanal from rock to rock, Tossing her frantic thyrsus wide and high!

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XXI Whence that low voice?—A whisper from the heart, That told of days long past when here I roved With friends and kindred tenderly beloved; Some who had early mandates to depart, Yet are allowed to steal my path athwart By Duddon’s side; once more do we unite, Once more beneath the kind Earth’s tranquil light; And smother’d joys into new being start. From her unworthy seat, the cloudy stall Of Time, breaks forth triumphant Memory; Her glistening tresses bound, yet light and free As golden locks of birch, that rise and fall On gales that breathe too gently to recal Aught of the fading year’s inclemency!

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XXII Tradition A love-lorn Maid, at some far-distant time, Came to this hidden pool, whose depths surpass In crystal clearness Dian’s looking-glass; And, gazing, saw that rose, which from the prime Derives its name, reflected as the chime Of echo doth reverberate some sweet sound: The starry treasure from the blue profound She long’d to ravish;—shall she plunge, or climb The humid precipice, and seize the guest Of April, smiling high in upper air? Desperate alternative! what field could dare To prompt the thought?—Upon the steep rock’s breast The lonely Primrose yet renews its bloom, Untouched memento of her hapless doom!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 359 XXIII Sheep-washing Sad thoughts, avaunt!—the fervour of the year, Poured on the fleece-encumbered flock, invites To laving currents, for prelusive rites Duly performed before the Dales-men shear Their panting charge. The distant Mountains hear, Hear and repeat, the turmoil that unites Clamour of boys with innocent despites Of barking dogs, and bleatings from strange fear. Meanwhile, if Duddon’s spotless breast receive Unwelcome mixtures as the uncouth noise Thickens, the pastoral River will forgive Such wrong; nor need we blame the licensed joys Though false to Nature’s quiet equipoise: Frank are the sports, the stains are fugitive.

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XXIV The Resting-place Mid-noon is past;—upon the sultry mead No zephyr breathes, no cloud its shadow throws: If we advance unstrengthen’d by repose, Farewell the solace of the vagrant reed. This Nook, with woodbine hung and straggling weed, Tempting recess as ever pilgrim chose, Half grot, half arbour, proffers to enclose Body and mind, from molestation freed, In narrow compass—narrow as itself: Or if the Fancy, too industrious Elf, Be loth that we should breathe awhile exempt From new incitements friendly to our task, There wants not stealthy prospect, that may tempt Loose Idless to forego her wily mask. XXV Methinks ’twere no unprecedented feat Should some benignant Minister of air Lift, and encircle with a cloudy chair,

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360â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The One for whom my heart shall ever beat With tenderest love;—or, if a safer seat Atween his downy wings be furnished, there Would lodge her, and the cherish’d burden bear O’er hill and valley to this dim retreat! Rough ways my steps have trod; too rough and long For her companionship; here dwells soft ease: With sweets which she partakes not some distaste Mingles, and lurking consciousness of wrong; Languish the flowers; the waters seem to waste Their vocal charm; their sparklings cease to please.

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XXVI Return, Content! for fondly I pursued, Even when a child, the Streams—unheard, unseen; Through tangled woods, impending rocks between; Or, free as air, with flying inquest viewed The sullen reservoirs whence their bold brood, Pure as the morning, fretful, boisterous, keen, Green as the salt-sea billows, white and green, Poured down the hills, a choral multitude! Nor have I tracked their course for scanty gains, They taught me random cares and truant joys, That shield from mischief and preserve from stains Vague minds, while men are growing out of boys; Maturer Fancy owes to their rough noise Impetuous thoughts that brook not servile reins.

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XXVII Journey Renewed. I rose while yet the cattle, heat-opprest, Crowded together under rustling trees, Brushed by the current of the water-breeze; And for their sakes, and love of all that rest, On Duddon’s margin, in the sheltering nest; For all the startled scaly tribes that slink Into his coverts, and each fearless link Of dancing insects forged upon his breast; For these, and hopes and recollections worn

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 361 Close to the vital seat of human clay; Glad meetings—tender partings—that upstay The drooping mind of absence, by vows sworn In his pure presence near the trysting thorn; I thanked the Leader of my onward way.

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XXVIII No record tells of lance opposed to lance, Horse charging horse, ’mid these retired domains; Nor that their turf drank purple from the veins Of heroes fall’n, or struggling to advance, Till doubtful combat issued in a trance Of victory, that struck through heart and reins, Even to the inmost seat of mortal pains, And lightened o’er the pallid countenance. Yet, to the loyal and the brave, who lie In the blank earth, neglected and forlorn, The passing Winds memorial tribute pay; The Torrents chaunt their praise, inspiring scorn Of power usurp’d,—with proclamation high, And glad acknowledgment of lawful sway.

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XXIX Who swerves from innocence, who makes divorce Of that serene companion—a good name, Recovers not his loss; but walks with shame, With doubt, with fear, and haply with remorse. And oft-times he, who, yielding to the force Of chance-temptation, ere his journey end, From chosen comrade turns, or faithful friend, In vain shall rue the broken intercourse. Not so with such as loosely wear the chain That binds them, pleasant River! to thy side:— Through the rough copse wheel Thou with hasty stride, I choose to saunter o’er the grassy plain, Sure, when the separation has been tried, That we, who part in love, shall meet again.

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362â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXX The Kirk of Ulpha to the Pilgrim’s eye Is welcome as a Star, that doth present Its shining forehead through the peaceful rent Of a black cloud diffused o’er half the sky; Or as a fruitful palm-tree towering high O’er the parched waste beside an Arab’s tent; Or the Indian tree whose branches, downward bent, Take root again, a boundless canopy. How sweet were leisure! could it yield no more Than ’mid that wave-washed Church-yard to recline, From pastoral graves extracting thoughts divine; Or there to pace, and mark the summits hoar Of distant moon-lit mountains faintly shine, Sooth’d by the unseen River’s gentle roar.

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XXXI Not hurled precipitous from steep to steep; Lingering no more ’mid flower-enamelled lands And blooming thickets; nor by rocky bands Held;—but in radiant progress tow’rd the Deep Where mightiest rivers into powerless sleep Sink, and forget their nature;—now expands Majestic Duddon, over smooth flat sands, Gliding in silence with unfettered sweep! Beneath an ampler sky a region wide Is opened round him;—hamlets, towers, and towns, And blue-topp’d hills, behold him from afar; In stately mien to sovereign Thames allied, Spreading his bosom under Kentish downs, With Commerce freighted or triumphant War.

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XXXII But here no cannon thunders to the gale; Upon the wave no haughty pendants cast A crimson splendour; lowly is the mast That rises here, and humbly spread the sail; While less disturbed than in the narrow Vale

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 363 Through which with strange vicissitudes he pass’d, The Wanderer seeks that receptacle vast Where all his unambitious functions fail. And may thy Poet, cloud-born Stream! be free, The sweets of earth contentedly resigned, And each tumultuous working left behind At seemly distance, to advance like Thee, Prepared, in peace of heart, in calm of mind And soul, to mingle with Eternity!

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XXXIII Conclusion. I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, As being past away.—Vain sympathies! For, backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, I see what was, and is, and will abide; Still glides the Stream, and shall for ever glide; The Form remains, the Function never dies; While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, We Men, who in our morn of youth defied The elements, must vanish;—be it so! Enough, if something from our hands have power To live, and act, and serve the future hour; And if, as tow’rd the silent tomb we go, Thro’ love, thro’ hope, and faith’s transcendant dower, We feel that we are greater than we know.

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[Poems not included in series as first published] To the Rev. Dr. W—— (with the sonnets to the river duddon, and other poems in this collection) The Minstrels played their Christmas tune To-night beneath my cottage eaves; While, smitten by a lofty moon,   “â•›‘And feel that I am happier than I know.’—Milton. The allusion to the Greek Poet will be obvious to the classical reader.” WW cites Paradise Lost, VIII, l. 282. For WW’s “Postscript” to The River Duddon see the notes at the end of this volume.

364â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The encircling Laurels, thick with leaves, Gave back a rich and dazzling sheen, That overpowered their natural green. Through hill and valley every breeze Had sunk to rest with folded wings; Keen was the air, but could not freeze Nor check the music of the strings; So stout and hardy were the band That scrap’d the chords with strenuous hand. And who but listen’d?—till was paid Respect to every Inmate’s claim; The greeting given, the music played In honour of each household name, Duly pronounc’d with lusty call, And “merry Christmas” wish’d to all! O Brother! I revere the choice That took thee from thy native hills; And it is given thee to rejoice: Though public care full often tills (Heaven only witness of the toil) A barren and ungrateful soil. Yet, would that Thou, with me and mine, Hadst heard this never-failing rite; And seen on other faces shine A true revival of the light; Which Nature, and these rustic Powers, In simple childhood, spread through ours! For pleasure hath not ceased to wait On these expected annual rounds, Whether the rich man’s sumptuous gate Call forth the unelaborate sounds, Or they are offered at the door That guards the lowliest of the poor. How touching, when, at midnight, sweep Snow-muffled winds, and all is dark, To hear—and sink again to sleep! Or, at an earlier call, to mark,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 365 By blazing fire, the still suspense Of self-complacent innocence; The mutual nod,—the grave disguise Of hearts with gladness brimming o’er; And some unbidden tears that rise For names once heard, and heard no more; Tears brighten’d by the serenade For infant in the cradle laid! Ah! not for emerald fields alone, With ambient streams more pure and bright Than fabled Cytherea’s zone Glittering before the Thunderer’s sight, Is to my heart of hearts endeared, The ground where we were born and rear’d! Hail, ancient Manners! sure defence, Where they survive, of wholesome laws; Remnants of love whose modest sense Thus into narrow room withdraws; Hail, Usages of pristine mould, And ye, that guard them, Mountains old! Bear with me, Brother! quench the thought That slights this passion, or condemns; If thee fond Fancy ever brought From the proud margin of the Thames, And Lambeth’s venerable towers, To humbler streams, and greener bowers. Yes, they can make, who fail to find, Short leisure even in busiest days; Moments—to cast a look behind, And profit by those kindly rays That through the clouds do sometimes steal, And all the far-off past reveal. Hence, while the imperial City’s din Beats frequent on thy satiate ear, A pleas’d attention I may win To agitations less severe, That neither overwhelm nor cloy,

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366â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth But fill the hollow vale with joy! Written upon a Blank Leaf in “The Complete Angler.” While flowing Rivers yield a blameless sport, Shall live the name of Walton;—Sage benign! Whose pen, the mysteries of the rod and line Unfolding, did not fruitlessly exhort To reverent watching of each still report That Nature utters from her rural shrine.— O nobly versed in simple discipline, Meek, thankful soul, the vernal day how short To thy lov’d pastime given by sedgy Lee, Or down the tempting maze of Shawford brook! Fairer than life itself, in thy sweet Book, The cowslip bank and shady willow-tree, And the fresh meads; where flow’d, from every nook Of thy full bosom, gladsome Piety!

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The Wild Duck’s Nest. The Imperial Consort of the Fairy King Owns not a sylvan bower; or gorgeous cell With emerald floor’d, and with purpureal shell Ceiling’d and roof’d; that is so fair a thing As this low structure—for the tasks of Spring Prepared by one who loves the buoyant swell Of the brisk waves, yet here consents to dwell; And spreads in stedfast peace her brooding wing. Words cannot paint the o’ershadowing yew-tree bough, And dimly-gleaming Nest,—a hollow crown Of golden leaves inlaid with silver down, Fine as the Mother’s softest plumes allow: I gaze—and almost wish to lay aside Humanity, weak slave of cumbrous pride! “Fallen, and diffus’d into a shapeless heap” Fallen, and diffus’d into a shapeless heap, Or quietly self-buried in earth’s mold, Is that embattled House, whose massy Keep Flung from yon cliff a shadow large and cold.—

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 367 There dwelt the gay, the bountiful, the bold, Till nightly lamentations, like the sweep Of winds—when winds were silent, struck a deep And lasting terror through that ancient Hold. Its line of Warriors fled;—they shrunk when tried By ghostly power:—but Time’s unsparing hand Hath pluck’d such foes, like weeds, from out the land; And now, if men with men in peace abide, All other strength the weakest may withstand, All worse assaults may safely be defied.

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368

Ecclesiastical Sketches (1822) Ecclesiastical Sketches Part I from the introduction of christianity into britain, to the consummation of the papal dominion

I. Introduction I, who descended with glad step to chase Cerulean Duddon from his cloud-fed spring, And of my wild Companion dared to sing, In verse that moved with strictly-measured pace; I, who essayed the nobler Stream to trace Of Liberty, and smote the plausive string Till the checked Torrent, fiercely combating, In victory found her natural resting-place; Now seek upon the heights of Time the source Of a holy River, on whose banks are found Sweet pastoral flowers, and laurels that have crowned Full oft the unworthy brow of lawless force; Where, for delight of him who tracks its course, Immortal amaranth and palms abound.

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II. Conjectures If there be Prophets on whose spirits rest Past things, revealed like future, they can tell What Powers, presiding o’er the sacred Well Of Christian Faith, this savage Island bless’d With its first bounty. Wandering through the West, Did holy Paul a while in Britain dwell,

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â•… WW’s notes all appeared in the first edition of the poem in 1822. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820– 1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 127–136, and 235–282. For WW’s “Advertisement” see the notes at the end of this volume. â•… “Stillingfleet adduces many arguments in support of this opinion, but they are unconvincing. The latter part of this Sonnet alludes to a favourite notion of Catholic Writers, that Joseph of Arimathea and his Companions brought Christianity into Britain, and built a rude Church at Glastonbury alluded to hereafter in the passage upon the dissolution of Monasteries.” WW’s many references to the works of historians, naturalists, and other scholars through-

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 369 And call the Fountain forth by miracle, And with dread signs the nascent Stream invest? Or He, whose bonds dropp’d off, whose prison doors Flew open, by an Angel’s voice unbarred? Or some, of humbler name, to these wild shores Storm-driven, who having seen the cup of woe Pass from their Master, sojourned here to guard The precious current they had taught to flow?

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III. Trepidation of the Druids Screams round the Arch-druid’s brow the Seamew—white As Menai’s foam; and towards the mystic ring Where Augurs stand, the future questioning, Slowly the Cormorant aims her heavy flight, Portending ruin to each baleful rite, That, in the lapse of seasons, hath crept o’er Diluvian truths, and patriarchal lore: Haughty the Bard;—can these meek doctrines blight His transports? wither his heroic strains? But all shall be fulfilled;—the Julian spear A way first open’d; and, with Roman chains, The tidings come of Jesus crucified; They come—they spread—the weak, the suffering, hear; Receive the faith, and in the hope abide.

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IV. Druidical Excommunication Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road, Thou wretched Outcast, from the gift of fire And food cut off by sacerdotal ire, From every sympathy that Man bestowed! Yet shall it claim our reverence, that to God, Ancient of days! that to the eternal Sire These jealous Ministers of Law aspire, As to the one sole fount whence Wisdom flowed,

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out Ecclesiastical Sketches reflect his wide reading in preparation for composing it, as he himself explaines in his note to Saxon Conquest (I.i), below. For information on these sources, consult the edition by Geoffrey Jackson cited above.   “This water-fowl was, among the Druids, an emblem of those traditions connected with the deluge that made an important part of their mysteries. The Cormorant was a bird of bad omen.” WW

370â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Justice, and Order. Tremblingly escaped, As if with prescience of the coming storm, That intimation when the stars were shaped; And yon thick woods maintain the primal truth, Debased by many a superstitious form, That fills the Soul with unavailing ruth.

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V. Uncertainty Darkness surrounds us; seeking, we are lost On Snowdon’s wilds, amid Brigantian coves, Or where the solitary Shepherd roves Along the Plain of Sarum, by the Ghost Of silently departed ages crossed; And where the boatman of the Western Isles Slackens his course—to mark those holy piles Which yet survive on bleak Iona’s coast. Nor these, nor monuments of eldest name, Nor Taliesin’s unforgotten lays, Nor Characters of Greek or Roman fame, To an unquestionable Source have led; Enough—if eyes that sought the fountain-head, In vain, upon the growing Rill may gaze.

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VI. Persecution Lament! for Dioclesian’s fiery sword Works busy as the lightning; but instinct With malice ne’er to deadliest weapon linked, Which God’s ethereal storehouses afford: Against the Followers of the incarnate Lord It rages;—some are smitten in the field— Some pierced beneath the unavailing shield Of sacred home;—with pomp are others gor’d And dreadful respite. Thus was Alban tried, England’s first Martyr! whom no threats could shake; Self-offered Victim, for his friend he died, And for the faith—nor shall his name forsake That Hill,whose flowery platform seems to rise

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  “â•›‘This hill at St. Alban’s must have been an object of great interest to the imagination of the venerable Bede, who thus describes it with a delicate feeling delightful to meet with in

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 371 By Nature decked for holiest sacrifice. VII. Recovery As, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain Their cheerfulness, and busily retrim Their nests, or chaunt a gratulating hymn To the blue ether and bespangled plain; Even so, in many a re-constructed fane, Have the Survivors of this Storm renewed Their holy rites with vocal gratitude; And solemn ceremonials they ordain To celebrate their great deliverance; Most feelingly instructed ’mid their fear, That persecution, blind with rage extreme, May not the less, thro’ Heaven’s mild countenance, Even in her own despite, both feed and cheer; For all things are less dreadful than they seem.

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VIII. Temptations from Roman Refinements Watch, and be firm! for soul-subduing vice, Heart-killing luxury, on your steps await. Fair houses, baths, and banquets delicate, And temples flashing, bright as polar ice, Their radiance through the woods, may yet suffice To sap your hardy virtue, and abate Your love of him upon whose forehead sate The crown of thorns; whose life-blood flowed, the price Of your redemption. Shun the insidious arts That Rome provides, less dreading from her frown Than from her wily praise, her peaceful gown, Language, and letters;—these, tho’ fondly viewed As humanizing graces, are but parts And instruments of deadliest servitude!

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that rude age, traces of which are frequent in his works: “Variis herbarum floribus depictus imò usquequaque vestitus in quo nihil repentè arduum nihil præceps, nihil abruptum, quem lateribus longè latèque deductum in modum æquoris natura complanat, dignum videlicet eum pro insita sibi specie venustatis jam olim reddens, qui beati martyris cruore dicaretur.’â•›” WW

372â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth IX. Dissensions That heresies should strike (if truth be scanned Presumptuously) their roots both wide and deep, Is natural as dreams to feverish sleep. Lo! Discord at the Altar dares to stand, Lifting towards high Heaven her fiery brand, A cherished Priestess of the new baptized! But chastisement shall follow peace despised. The Pictish cloud darkens the enervate land By Rome abandoned; vain are suppliant cries, And prayers that would undo her forced farewell, For she returns not.—Awed by her own knell, She casts the Britons upon strange Allies, Soon to become more dreaded enemies, Than heartless misery called them to repel.

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X. Struggle of the Britons against the Barbarians Rise!—they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask How they have scourged old foes, perfidious friends: The spirit of Caractacus defends The Patriots, animates their glorious task:— Amazement runs before the towering casque Of Arthur, bearing thro’ the stormy field The Virgin sculptured on his Christian shield:— Stretched in the sunny light of victory bask The Host that followed Urien as he strode O’er heaps of slain;—from Cambrian wood and moss Druids descend, auxiliars of the Cross; Bards, nursed on blue Plinlimmon’s still abode, Rush on the fight, to harps preferring swords, And everlasting deeds to burning words! XI. Saxon Conquest Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid Of hallelujahs tossed from hill to hill— For instant victory. But Heaven’s high will Permits a second and a darker shade   “Alluding to the victory gained under Germanus.—See Bede.” WW

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 373 Of Pagan night. Afflicted and dismayed, The Relics of the sword flee to the mountains: O wretched Land, whose tears have flowed like fountains! Whose arts and honours in the dust are laid, By men yet scarcely conscious of a care For other monuments than those of Earth; Intent, as fields and woods have given them birth, To build their savage fortunes only there; Witness the foss, the barrow, and the girth Of many a long-drawn rampart, green and bare!

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XII. Monastery of Old Bangorâ•› The oppression of the tumult—wrath and scorn— The tribulation—and the gleaming blades— Such is the impetuous spirit that pervades The song of Taliesin;—Ours shall mourn The unarmed Host who by their prayers would turn The sword from Bangor’s walls, and guard the store Of Aboriginal and Roman lore, And Christian monuments, that now must burn To senseless ashes. Mark! how all things swerve From their known course, or pass away like steam; Another language spreads from coast to coast;

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â•… “The last six lines of this Sonnet are chiefly from the prose of Daniel; and here I will state (though to the Readers whom this Poem will chiefly interest it is unnecessary), that my obligations to other Prose Writers are frequent,—obligations, which even if I had not a pleasure in courting, it would have been presumptuous to shun, in treating an historical subject. I must, however, particularize Fuller, to whom I am indebted in the Sonnet upon Wicliffe and in other instances. And upon the Acquittal of the Seven Bishops I have done little more than versify a lively description of that Event in the Memoirs of the first Lord Lonsdale.” WW   “â•›‘Ethelforth reached the Convent of Bangor, he perceived the Monks, twelve hundred in number, offering prayers for the success of their Countrymen: ‘if they are praying against us;’ he exclaimed, ‘they are fighting against us,’ and he ordered them to be first attacked: they were destroyed; and appalled by their fate, the courage of Brocmail wavered, and he fled from the field in dismay. Thus abandoned by their leader, his army soon gave way, and Ethelforth obtained a decisive conquest. Ancient Bangor itself soon fell into his hands and was demolished; the noble monastery was levelled to the ground; its library, which is mentioned as a large one, the collection of ages, the repository of the most precious monuments of the ancient Britons, was consumed; half-ruined walls, gates, and rubbish, were all that remained of the magnificent edifice.’—See Turner’s valuable History of the Anglo-Saxons.    The account Bede gives of this remarkable event, suggests a most striking warning against National and Religious prejudices.” WW   “Taliesin was present at the battle which preceded this desolation.” WW â•›

  â•›

374â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Only perchance some melancholy Stream And some indignant Hills old names preserve, When laws, and creeds, and people, all are lost! XIII. Casual Incitement A bright-haired company of youthful Slaves, Beautiful Strangers, stand within the pale Of a sad market, ranged for public sale, Where Tiber’s stream the glorious City laves: Angli by name; and not an Angel waves His wing who seemeth lovelier in Heaven’s eye Than they appear to holy Gregory, Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves For Them, and for their Land. The earnest Sire, His questions urging, feels in slender ties Of chiming sound commanding sympathies; De-irians—he would save them from God’s ire; Subjects of Saxon Ælla—they shall sing Sweet Hallelujahs to the eternal King!

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XIV. Glad Tidings For ever hallowed be this morning fair, Blest be the unconscious shore on which ye tread, And blest the silver Cross, which ye, instead Of martial banner, in procession bear; The Cross preceding Him who floats in air, The pictured Saviour!—By Augustin led They come—and onward travel without dread, Chaunting in barbarous ears a tuneful prayer, Sung for themselves, and those whom they would free! Rich conquest waits them:—the tempestuous sea Of Ignorance, that ran so rough and high, And heeded not the voice of clashing swords, These good men humble by a few bare words, And calm with fear of God’s divinity. XV. Paulinus But, to remote Northumbria’s royal Hall, Where thoughtful Edwin, tutored in the School

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 375 Of Sorrow, still maintains a Heathen rule, Who comes with functions Apostolical? Mark him, of shoulders curved, and stature tall, Black hair, and vivid eye, and meagre cheek, His prominent feature like an eagle’s beak; A Man whose aspect doth at once appal, And strike with reverence. The Monarch leans Towards the Truths this Delegate propounds,— Repeatedly his own deep mind he sounds With careful hesitation,—then convenes A synod of his Counsellors,—give ear, And what a pensive Sage doth utter, hear!

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XVI. Persuasionâ•› “Man’s life is like a Sparrow, mighty King! “That, stealing in while by the fire you sit “Housed with rejoicing Friends, is seen to flit “Safe from the storm, in comfort tarrying. “Here did it enter—there, on hasty wing “Flies out, and passes on from cold to cold; “But whence it came we know not, nor behold “Whither it goes. Even such that transient Thing, “The Human Soul; not utterly unknown “While in the Body lodged, her warm abode;

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  “The person of Paulinus is thus described by Bede, from the memory of an eye-witness: ‘Longæ staturæ, paululum incurvus, nigro capillo, facie macilentâ, naso adunco, pertenui, venerabilis simul et terribilis aspectu.’â•›” WW; “Of tall stature, slightly stooping, with black hair, a lean face, a nose hooked and slender; and in his appearance boh venerable and awe-inspiring.” (See Bede, II.xvi.)   “See the original of this speech in Bede.—The Conversion of Edwin as related by him is highly interesting—and the breaking up of this Council accompanied with an event so striking and characteristic, that I am tempted to give it at length in a translation. ‘Who, exclaimed the King, when the Council was ended, shall first desecrate the Altars and the Temples? I, answered the Chief Priest, for who more fit than myself, through the wisdom which the true God hath given me to destroy, for the good example of others, what in foolishness I worshipped. Immediately, casting away vain superstition, he besought the King to grant him, what the laws did not allow to a priest, arms and a courser; which mounting, and furnished with a sword and lance, he proceeded to destroy the Idols. The crowd, seeing this, thought him mad—he however halted not, but, approaching, he profaned the Temple, casting against it the lance which he had held in his hand, and, exulting in acknowledgment of the worship of the true God, he ordered his companions to pull down the Temple, with all its enclosures. The place is shown where those idols formerly stood, not far from York, at the source of the river Derwent, and is at this day called Gormund Gaham.’â•›” WW

376â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “But from what world She came, what woe or weal “On her departure waits, no tongue hath shewn; “This mystery if the Stranger can reveal, “His be a welcome cordially bestowed!” XVII. Conversion Prompt transformation works the novel lore; The Council closed, the Priest in full career Rides forth, an armed Man, and hurls a spear To desecrate the Fane which heretofore He served in folly.—Woden falls—and Thor Is overturned; the Mace, in battle heaved (So might they dream) till Victory was achieved, Drops—and the God himself is seen no more. Temple and Altar sink—to hide their shame Amid oblivious weeds. “O come to me Ye heavy laden!” such the inviting voice Heard near fresh streams,—and thousands, who rejoice In the new Rite—the pledge of sanctity, Shall, by regenerate life, the promise claim.

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XVIII. Apology Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend The soul’s eternal interests to promote: Death, darkness, danger, are our natural lot; And evil Spirits may our walk attend For aught the wisest know or comprehend; Then let the good be free to breathe a note Of elevation—let their odours float Around these Converts, and their glories blend, Outshining nightly tapers, or the blaze Of the noon-day. Nor doubt that golden cords Of good works, mingling with the visions, raise The soul to purer worlds: and who the line Shall draw, the limits of the power define, That even imperfect faith to Man affords?

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  “The early propagators of Christianity were accustomed to preach near rivers for the convenience of baptism.” WW.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 377 XIX. Primitive Saxon Clergyâ•› How beautiful your presence, how benign, Servants of God! who not a thought will share With the vain world; who, outwardly as bare As winter trees, yield no fallacious sign That the firm soul is clothed with fruit divine! Such Priest, when service worthy of his care Has called him forth to breathe the common air, Might seem a saintly Image from its shrine Descended; happy are the eyes that meet The Apparition; evil thoughts are stayed At his approach, and low-bowed necks entreat A benediction from his voice or hand; Whence grace, thro’ which the heart can understand, And vows, that bind the will, in silence made.

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XX. Other Influences Ah, when the Frame, round which in love we clung, Is chilled by death, does mutual service fail? Is tender pity then of no avail? Are intercessions of the fervent tongue A waste of hope?—From this sad source have sprung Rites that console the spirit, under grief Which ill can brook more rational relief; Hence, prayers are shaped amiss, and dirges sung For those whose doom is fix’d! The way is smooth For Power that travels with the human heart:— Confession ministers, the pang to soothe In him who at the ghost of guilt doth start. Ye holy Men, so earnest in your care,

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  “Having spoken of the zeal, disinterestedness, and temperance of the clergy of those times, Bede thus proceeds: ‘Unde et in magna erat veneratione tempore illo religionis habitus, ita ut ubicunque clericus aliquis, aut monachus adveniret, gaudenter ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiam si in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, et flexâ cervice, vel manu signari, vel ore illius se benedici, gaudebant. Verbis quoque horum exhortatoriis diligenter auditum præbebant.’ Lib. iii. cap. 26.” WW. “Therefore, the religious garb was greatly revered at that time, so that wherever some priest or monk arrived, he was received joyfully by everyone as a servant of God. And if he was discovered proceeding on his way, they would run up to him and, with necks bowed rejoiced to receive the sign [of the cross] from his hand or to be blessed by his mouth. Also, the exhortations of these men were listened to attentively.”

378â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of your own mighty instruments beware! XXI. Seclusion Lance, shield, and sword relinquished—at his side A Bead-roll, in his hand a clasped Book, Or staff more harmless than a Shepherd’s crook, The war-worn Chieftain quits the world—to hide His thin autumnal locks where Monks abide In cloistered privacy. But not to dwell In soft repose he comes. Within his cell, Round the decaying trunk of human pride, At morn, and eve, and midnight’s silent hour, Do penitential cogitations cling: Like ivy, round some ancient elm, they twine In grisly folds and strictures serpentine; Yet, while they strangle without mercy, bring For recompense their own perennial bower.

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XXII. Continued Methinks that to some vacant Hermitage My feet would rather turn—to some dry nook Scoop’d out of living rock, and near a brook Hurl’d down a mountain-cove from stage to stage, Yet tempering, for my sight, its bustling rage In the soft heaven of a translucent pool; Thence creeping under forest arches cool, Fit haunt of shapes whose glorious equipage Perchance would throng my dreams. A beechen bowl, A maple dish, my furniture should be; Crisp, yellow leaves my bed; the hooting Owl My night-watch: nor should e’er the crested Fowl From thorp or vill his matins sound for me, Tired of the world and all its industry. XXIII. Reproof But what if One, thro’ grove or flowery mead, Indulging thus at will the creeping feet Of a voluptuous indolence, should meet The hovering Shade of venerable Bede;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 379 The Saint, the Scholar, from a circle freed Of toil stupendous, in a hallowed seat Of Learning, where he heard the billows beat On a wild coast—rough monitors to feed Perpetual industry. Sublime Recluse! The recreant soul, that dares to shun the debt Imposed on human kind, must first forget Thy diligence, thy unrelaxing use Of a long life; and, in the hour of death, The last dear service of thy passing breath!

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XXIV. Saxon Monasteries, and Lights and Shades of the Religion By such examples moved to unbought pains, The people work like congregated bees; Eager to build the quiet Fortresses Where Piety, as they believe, obtains From Heaven a general blessing; timely rains Or needful sunshine; prosperous enterprize, And peace, and equity.—Bold faith! yet rise The sacred Towers for universal gains. The Sensual think with reverence of the palms Which the chaste Votaries seek, beyond the grave; If penance be redeemable, thence alms Flow to the Poor, and freedom to the Slave; And, if full oft the Sanctuary save Lives black with guilt, ferocity it calms.

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XXV. Missions and Travels Not sedentary all: there are who roam To scatter seeds of Life on barbarous shores; Or quit with zealous step their knee-worn floors To seek the general Mart of Christendom; Whence they, like richly laden Merchants, come To their beloved Cells:—or shall we say That, like the Red-cross Knight, they urge their way,

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  “He expired in the act of concluding a translation of St. John’s Gospel.” WW   “See in Turner’s History, vol. iii. p. 528, the account of the erection of Ramsey Monastery. Penances were removable by the performances of acts of charity and benevolence.” WW. WW cites Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons (3d ed., 3 vols.; London, 1820).

380â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To lead in memorable triumph home Truth—their immortal Una? Babylon, Learned and wise, hath perished utterly, Nor leaves her speech wherewith to clothe a sigh That would lament her;—Memphis, Tyre, are gone With all their Arts—while classic Lore glides on By these Religious saved for all posterity.

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XXVI. Alfred Behold a Pupil of the Monkish gown, The pious Alfred, King to Justice dear; Lord of the harp and liberating spear; Mirror of Princes! Indigent Renown Might range the starry ether for a crown Equal to his deserts, who, like the year, Pours forth his bounty, like the day doth cheer, And awes like night with mercy-tempered frown. Ease from this noble Miser of his time No moment steals; pain narrows not his cares. Though small his kingdom as a spark or gem, Of Alfred boasts remote Jerusalem, And Christian India gifts with Alfred shares By sacred converse link’d with India’s clime.

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XXVII. His Descendants Can aught survive to linger in the veins Of kindred bodies—an essential power That may not vanish in one fatal hour, And wholly cast away terrestrial chains? The race of Alfred covets glorious pains When dangers threaten—dangers ever new! Black tempests bursting—blacker still in view! But manly sovereignty its hold retains; The root sincere—the branches bold to strive With the fierce storm; meanwhile, within the round Of their protection, gentle virtues thrive; As oft, ’mid some green plot of open ground, Wide as the oak extends its dewy gloom,   “Through the whole of his life, Alfred was subject to grievous maladies.” WW

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 381 The fostered hyacinths spread their purple bloom. XXVIII. Influence Abused Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill Changes her means,—the Enthusiast as a dupe Shall soar, and as a hypocrite can stoop, And turn the instruments of good to ill, Moulding the credulous People to his will. Such Dunstan:—from its Benedictine coop Issues the master Mind, at whose fell swoop The chaste affections tremble to fulfil Their purposes. Behold, pre-signified The might of spiritual sway! his thoughts—his dreams Do in the supernatural world abide: So vaunt a throng of Followers, filled with pride In shows of virtue pushed to its extremes, And sorceries of talent misapplied.

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XXIX. Danish Conquests Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey! Dissension checks the arms that would restrain The incessant Rovers of the Northern Main, And widely spreads once more a Pagan sway; But Gospel-Truth is potent to allay Fierceness and rage; and soon the cruel Dane Feels, thro’ the influence of her gentle reign, His native superstitions melt away. Thus, often, when thick gloom the east o’ershrouds, The full-robed Moon, slow-climbing, doth appear Silently to consume the heavy clouds; How no one can resolve; but every eye Around her sees, while air is hushed, a clear And widening circuit of etherial sky.

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XXX. Canute A pleasant music floats along the Mere, â•… “The violent measures, carried on under the influence of Dunstan, for strengthening the Benedictine Order, were a leading cause of the second series of Danish Invasions. See Turner.” WW

382â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth From Monks in Ely chaunting service high, Whileas Canùte the King is rowing by: “My Oarsmen,” quoth the mighty King, “draw near, “That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!” He listen’d (all past conquests and all schemes Of future vanishing like empty dreams) Heart-touch’d, and haply not without a tear. The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir was still, While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along, Gives to that rapture a memorial Rhyme. O suffering Earth! be thankful; sternest clime And rudest age are subject to the thrill Of heaven-descended Piety and Song.

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XXXI. The Norman Conquest The woman-hearted Confessor prepares The evanescence of the Saxon line. Hark! ’tis the Curfew’s knell! the stars may shine; But of the lights that cherish household cares And festive gladness, burns not one that dares To twinkle after that dull stroke of thine, Emblem and instrument, from Thames to Tyne, Of force that daunts, and cunning that ensnares! Yet, as the terrors of the lordly bell, That quench from hut to palace lamps and fires, Touch not the tapers of the sacred quires, Even so a thraldom studious to expel Old laws, and ancient customs to derange, Brings to Religion no injurious change.

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XXXII. The Council of Clermont “And shall,” the Pontiff asks, “profaneness flow “From Nazareth—source of Christian Piety, “From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony “And glorified Ascension? Warriors go, “With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; “Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye

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  “Which is still extant.” WW. The Latin “song” dates from the twelfth century and was often translated into English.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 383 “Have chased far off by righteous victory “These sons of Amalec, or laid them low!” “God willeth it,” the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounded. The Council-roof and Clermont’s towers reply: “God willeth it,” from hill to hill rebounded; Sacred resolve, in countries far and nigh, Through “Nature’s hollow arch,” that night, resounded!

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XXXIII. Crusades The Turban’d Race are poured in thickening swarms Along the West; though driven from Aquitaine, The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain; And soft Italia feels renewed alarms; The scimitar, that yields not to the charms Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain; Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain Their tents, and check the current of their arms. Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever Known to the moral world, Imagination, Upheave (so seems it) from her natural station All Christendom:—they sweep along—(was never So huge a host!)—to tear from the Unbeliever The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation.

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XXXIV. Richard I Redoubted King, of courage leonine, I mark thee, Richard! urgent to equip Thy warlike person with the staff and scrip; I watch thee sailing o’er the midland brine; In conquered Cyprus see thy Bride decline Her blushing cheek, Love’s vow upon her lip, And see love-emblems streaming from thy ship, As thence she holds her way to Palestine. My Song (a fearless Homager) would attend Thy thundering battle-axe as it cleaves the press Of war, but duty summons her away

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  “The decision of this council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.” WW

384â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To tell, how finding in the rash distress Of those enthusiast powers a constant Friend, Through giddier heights hath clomb the Papal sway. XXXV. An Interdict Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace, The Church, by mandate shadowing forth the power She arrogates o’er heaven’s eternal door, Closes the gates of every sacred place;— Straight from the sun and tainted air’s embrace All sacred things are covered: cheerful morn Grows sad as night—no seemly garb is worn, Nor is a face allowed to meet a face With natural smile of greeting.—Bells are dumb; Ditches are graves—funereal rights denied; And in the Church-yard he must take his Bride Who dares be wedded! Fancies thickly come Into the pensive heart ill fortified, And comfortless despairs the soul benumb.

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XXXVI. Papal Abuses As with the stream our voyage we pursue The gross materials of this world present A marvellous study of wild accident; Uncouth proximities of old and new; And bold transfigurations, more untrue (As might be deemed) to disciplined intent Than aught the sky’s fantastic element, When most fantastic, offers to the view. Saw we not Henry scourged at Becket’s shrine? Lo! John self-stripped of his insignia—crown, Sceptre and mantle, sword and ring, laid down At a proud Legate’s feet! The spears that line Baronial Halls, the opprobrious insult feel; And angry Ocean roars a vain appeal. XXXVII. Scene in Venice Black Demons hovering o’er his mitred head, To Cæsar’s Successor the Pontiff spake;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 385 “Ere I absolve thee, stoop! that on thy neck “Levelled with Earth this foot of mine may tread.” Then, he who to the Altar had been led, He, whose strong arm the Orient could not check, He, who had held the Soldan at his beck, Stooped, of all glory disinherited, And even the common dignity of man! Amazement strikes the crowd;—while many turn Their eyes away in sorrow, others burn With scorn, invoking a vindictive ban From outraged Nature; but the sense of most In abject sympathy with power is lost.

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XXXVIII. Papal Dominion Unless to Peter’s Chair the viewless wind Must come and ask permission when to blow, What further empire would it have? for now A ghostly Domination, unconfined As that by dreaming Bards to Love assigned, Sits there in sober truth—to raise the low— Perplex the wise—the strong to overthrow— Through earth and heaven to bind and to unbind! Resist—the thunder quails thee!—crouch—rebuff Shall be thy recompence! from land to land The ancient thrones of Christendom are stuff For occupation of a magic wand, And ’tis the Pope that wields it,—whether rough Or smooth his front, our world is in his hand! Ecclesiastical Sketches. Part II to the close of the troubles in the reign of charles i

I. Cistertian Monastery “Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall, “More promptly rises, walks with nicer heed, “More safely rests, dies happier, is freed “Earlier from cleansing fires, and gains withal

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386â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “A brighter crown.”—On yon Cistertian wall That confident assurance may be read; And, to like shelter, from the world have fled Encreasing multitudes. The potent call Doubtless shall cheat full oft the heart’s desires; Yet, while the rugged age on pliant knee Vows to rapt Fancy humble fealty, A gentler life spreads round the holy spires; Where’er they rise the sylvan waste retires, And aëry harvests crown the fertile lea.

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II. Monks, and Schoolmen Record we too, with just and faithful pen, That many hooded Cenobites there are, Who in their private Cells have yet a care Of public quiet: unambitious Men, Counsellors for the world, of piercing ken; Whose fervent exhortations from afar Move Princes to their duty, peace or war; And oft-times in the most forbidding den Of solitude, with love of science strong, How patiently the yoke of thought they bear! How subtly glide its finest threads along! Spirits that crowd the intellectual sphere With mazy boundaries, as the Astronomer With orb and cycle girds the starry throng.

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III. Other Benefits And not in vain embodied to the sight Religion finds even in the stern Retreat Of feudal Sway her own appropriate Seat; From the Collegiate pomps on Windsor’s height, Down to the humble Altar, which the Knight And his Retainers of the embattled hall Seek in domestic oratory small, For prayer in stillness, or the chaunted rite;

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  “â•›‘Bonum est nos hic esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, incedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicius, purgatur citius, præmiatur copiosius.’ Bernard. ‘This sentence,’ says Dr. Whitaker, ‘is usually inscribed on some conspicuous part of the Cistertian houses.’â•›” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 387 Then chiefly dear, when foes are planted round, Who teach the intrepid guardians of the place, Hourly exposed to death, with famine worn, And suffering under many a doubtful wound, How sad would be their durance, if forlorn Of offices dispensing heavenly grace!

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IV. Continued And what melodious sounds at times prevail! And, ever and anon, how bright a gleam Pours on the surface of the turbid Stream! What heartfelt fragrance mingles with the gale That swells the bosom of our passing sail! For where, but on this River’s margin, blow Those flowers of Chivalry, to bind the brow Of hardihood with wreaths that shall not fail? Fair Court of Edward! wonder of the world! I see a matchless blazonry unfurled Of wisdom, magnanimity, and love; And meekness tempering honourable pride; The Lamb is couching by the Lion’s side, And near the flame-eyed Eagle sits the Dove.

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V. Crusaders Nor can Imagination quit the shores Of these bright scenes without a farewell glance Given to those dream-like Issues—that Romance Of many-coloured life which Fortune pours Round the Crusaders, till on distant shores Their labours end; or they return to lie, The vow performed, in cross-legged effigy, Devoutly stretched upon their chancel floors. Am I deceived? Or is their Requiem chaunted By voices never mute when Heaven unties Her inmost, softest, tenderest harmonies; Requiem which Earth takes up with voice undaunted, When she would tell how Good, and Brave, and Wise, For their high guerdon not in vain have panted!

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388â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth VI. Transubstantiation Enough! for see, with dim association The tapers burn; the odorous incense feeds A greedy flame; the pompous mass proceeds; The Priest bestows the appointed consecration; And, while the Host is raised, its elevation An awe and supernatural horror breeds, And all the People bow their heads like reeds, To a soft breeze, in lowly adoration. This Valdo brook’d not. On the banks of Rhone He taught, till persecution chased him thence, To adore the Invisible, and Him alone. Nor were his Followers loth to seek defence, ’Mid woods and wilds, on Nature’s craggy throne, From rites that trample upon soul and sense.

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VII. Waldenses These who gave earliest notice, as the Lark Springs from the ground the morn to gratulate; Who rather rose the day to antedate, By striking out a solitary spark, When all the world with midnight gloom was dark— These Harbingers of good, whom bitter hate In vain endeavoured to exterminate, Fell Obloquy pursues with hideous bark? Meanwhile the unextinguishable fire, Rekindled thus, from dens and savage woods Moves, handed on with never-ceasing care, Through Courts, through Camps, o’er limitary Floods; Nor lacks this sea-girt Isle a timely share

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  “The list of foul names bestowed upon those poor creatures is long and curious;—and, as is, alas! too natural, most of the opprobrious appellations are drawn from circumstances into which they were forced by their persecutors, who even consolidated their miseries into one reproachful term, calling them Patarenians or Paturins, from pati, to suffer. Dwellers with wolves she names them, for the Pine And green Oak are their covert; as the gloom Of night oft foils their Enemy’s design, She calls them Riders on the flying broom; Sorcerers, whose frame and aspect have become One and the same through practices malign.” In his note WW quotes the sestet from an earlier version of the sonnet.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 389 Of the new Flame, not suffered to expire. VIII. Archbishop Chicheley to Henry V “What Beast in wilderness or cultured field “The lively beauty of the Leopard shews? “What Flower in meadow-ground or garden grows “That to the towering Lily doth not yield? “Let both meet only on thy royal shield! “Go forth, great King! claim what thy birth bestows; “Conquer the Gallic Lily which thy foes “Dare to usurp;—thou hast a sword to wield, “And Heaven will crown the right.”—The mitred Sire Thus spake—and lo! a Fleet, for Gaul addressed, Ploughs her bold course across the wondering seas; For, sooth to say, ambition, in the breast Of youthful Heroes, is no sullen fire, But one that leaps to meet the fanning breeze.

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IX. Wars of York and Lancaster Thus is the storm abated by the craft Of a shrewd Counsellor, eager to protect The Church, whose power hath recently been check’d, Whose monstrous riches threatened. So the shaft Of victory mounts high, and blood is quaff’d In fields that rival Cressy and Poictiers. But mark the dire effect in coming years! Deep, deep as hell itself, the future draught Of civil slaughter. Yet, while Temporal power Is by these shocks exhausted, Spiritual truth Maintains the else endangered gift of life; Proceeds from infancy to lusty youth; And, under cover of that woeful strife, Gathers unblighted strength from hour to hour. X. Wicliffe Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear, And at her call is Wicliffe disinhumed: Yea, his dry bones to ashes are consumed, And flung into the brook that travels near;

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390â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Forthwith, that ancient Voice which Streams can hear Thus speaks, (that voice which walks upon the wind, Though seldom heard by busy human kind,) “As thou these ashes, little Brook! wilt bear “Into the Avon, Avon to the tide “Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas, “Into main Ocean they, this Deed accurst “An emblem yields to friends and enemies “How the bold Teacher’s Doctrine, sanctified “By Truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed.”

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XI. Corruptions of the Higher Clergy “Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease “And cumbrous wealth—the shame of your estate; “You on whose progress dazzling trains await “Of pompous horses; whom vain titles please, “Who will be served by others on their knees, “Yet will yourselves to God no service pay; “Pastors who neither take nor point the way “To Heaven; for either lost in vanities “Ye have no skill to teach, or if ye know “And speak the word——” Alas! of fearful things ’Tis the most fearful when the People’s eye Abuse hath cleared from vain imaginings; And taught the general voice to prophesy Of Justice armed, and Pride to be laid low.

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XII. Abuse of Monastic Power And what is Penance with her knotted thong, Mortification with the shirt of hair, Wan cheek, and knees indùrated with prayer, Vigils, and fastings rigorous as long, If cloistered Avarice scruple not to wrong The pious, humble, useful Secular, And robs the People of his daily care, Scorning their wants because her arm is strong? Inversion strange! that to a Monk, who lives For self, and struggles with himself alone, The amplest share of heavenly favour gives;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 391 And hath allotted, in the world’s esteem, To such a higher station than to him Who on the good of others builds his own. XIII. Monastic Voluptuousness Yet more,—round many a Convent’s blazing fire Unhallowed threads of revelry are spun; There Venus sits disguisèd like a Nun,— While Bacchus, clothed in semblance of a Friar, Pours out his choicest beverage high and higher Sparkling, until it cannot chuse but run Over the bowl, whose silver lip hath won An instant kiss of masterful desire— To stay the precious waste. In every brain Spreads the dominion of the sprightly juice, Through the wide world to madding Fancy dear, Till the arch’d roof, with resolute abuse Of its grave echoes, swells a choral strain, Whose votive burthen is—“Our kingdom’s here!”

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XIV. Dissolution of the Monasteries Threats come which no submission may assuage; No sacrifice avert, no power dispute; The tapers shall be quenched, the belfries mute, And, ’mid their choirs unroofed by selfish rage, The warbling wren shall find a leafy cage; The gadding bramble hang her purple fruit; And the green lizard and the gilded newt Lead unmolested lives, and die of age. The Owl of evening, and the woodland Fox For their abode the shrines of Waltham chuse: Proud Glastonbury can no more refuse To stoop her head before these desperate shocks—

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  “These two lines are adopted from a MS. written about the year 1770, which accidentally fell into my possession. The close of the preceding Sonnet on monastic voluptuousness is taken from the same source as is the verse, “Where Venus sits, &c.” WW refers to ll. 3ff. (“There Venus sits . . . “) of II.vii. Monastic Voluptuousness, above. The manuscript poem has been identified as The Ruins of St. Mary’s Abby, near Dalton, in Furness, Lancashire by William Robinson (See Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, p. 259).

392â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth She whose high pomp displaced, as story tells, Arimathean Joseph’s wattled cells. XV. The Same Subject The lovely Nun (submissive but more meek Through saintly habit, than from effort due To unrelenting mandates that pursue With equal wrath the steps of strong and weak) Goes forth—unveiling timidly her cheek Suffused with blushes of celestial hue, While through the Convent gate to open view Softly she glides, another home to seek. Not Iris, issuing from her cloudy shrine, An Apparitition more divinely bright! Not more attractive to the dazzled sight Those wat’ry glories, on the stormy brine Pour’d forth, while summer suns at distance shine, And the green vales lie hush’d in sober light!

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XVI. Continued Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade, Or chained by vows, with undissembled glee The warrant hail—exulting to be free; Like ships before whose keels, full long embayed In polar ice, propitious winds have made Unlook’d-for outlet to an open sea, Their liquid world, for bold discovery, In all her quarters temptingly displayed! Hope guides the young; but when the old must pass The threshold, whither shall they turn to find The hospitality—the alms (alas! Alms may be needed) which that House bestowed? Can they, in faith and worship, train the mind To keep this new and questionable road? XVII. Saints Ye, too, must fly before a chasing hand, Angels and Saints, in every hamlet mourned! Ah! if the old idolatry be spurned,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 393 Let not your radiant Shapes desert the Land: Her adoration was not your demand, The fond heart proffered it—the servile heart; And therefore are ye summoned to depart, Michael, and thou St. George whose flaming brand The Dragon quelled; and valiant Margaret Whose rival sword a like Opponent slew: And rapt Cecilia, seraph-haunted Queen Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene, Who in the penitential desart met Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew!

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XVIII. The Virgin Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied; Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted nature’s solitary boast; Purer than foam on central Ocean tost; Brighter than eastern skies at day-break strewn With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon Before her wane begins on heaven’s blue coast; Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween, Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend, As to a visible Power, in which did blend All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee Of mother’s love with maiden purity, Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

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XIX. Apology Not utterly unworthy to endure Was the supremacy of crafty Rome; Age after age to the arch of Christendom Aërial keystone haughtily secure; Supremacy from Heaven transmitted pure, As many hold; and, therefore, to the tomb Pass, some through fire—and by the scaffold some— Like saintly Fisher, and unbending More. “Lightly for both the bosom’s lord did sit “Upon his throne;” unsoftened, undismayed

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394â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth By aught that mingled with the tragic scene Of pity or fear; and More’s gay genius played With the inoffensive sword of native wit, Than the bare axe more luminous and keen. XX. Imaginative Regrets Deep is the lamentation! Not alone From Sages justly honoured by mankind, But from the ghostly Tenants of the wind, Demons and Spirits, many a dolorous groan Issues for that dominion overthrown: Proud Tiber grieves, and far-off Ganges, blind As his own worshippers;—and Nile, reclined Upon his monstrous urn, the farewell moan Renews.—Through every forest, cave, and den, Where frauds were hatch’d of old, hath sorrow past— Hangs o’er the Arabian Prophet’s native Waste Where once his airy helpers schemed and planned, ’Mid phantom lakes bemocking thirsty men, And stalking pillars built of fiery sand.

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XXI. Reflections Grant, that by this unsparing Hurricane Green leaves with yellow mixed are torn away, And goodly fruitage with the mother spray, ’Twere madness—wished we, therefore, to detain, With farewell sighs of mollified disdain, The “trumpery” that ascends in bare display,— Bulls, pardons, relics, cowls black, white, and grey, Upwhirl’d—and flying o’er the ethereal plain Fast bound for Limbo Lake.—And yet not choice But habit rules the unreflecting herd, And airy bonds are hardest to disown; Hence, with the spiritual soverereignty transferred Unto itself, the Crown assumes a voice Of reckless mastery, hitherto unknown. XXII. Translation of the Bible But, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 395 In dusty sequestration wrapp’d too long, Assumes the accents of our native tongue; And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook, With understanding spirit now may look Upon her records, listen to her song, And sift her laws—much wondering that the wrong, Which Faith has suffered, Heaven could calmly brook. Transcendant Boon! noblest that earthly King Ever bestowed to equalize and bless Under the weight of mortal wretchedness! But passions spread like plagues, and thousands wild With bigotry shall tread the Offering Beneath their feet—detested and defiled.

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XXIII. Edward VI “Sweet is the holiness of Youth”—so felt Time-honoured Chaucer when he framed the lay By which the Prioress beguiled the way, And many a Pilgrim’s rugged heart did melt. Hadst thou, loved Bard! whose spirit often dwelt In the clear land of vision, but foreseen King, Child, and Seraph, blended in the mien Of pious Edward kneeling as he knelt In meek and simple Infancy, what joy For universal Christendom had thrilled Thy heart! what hopes inspired thy genius, skilled (O great Precursor, genuine morning star) The lucid shafts of reason to employ, Piercing the Papal darkness from afar!

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XXIV. Edward Signing the Warrant for the Execution of Joan of Kent The tears of man in various measure gush From various sources; gently overflow From blissful transport some—from clefts of woe Some with ungovernable impulse rush; And some, coëval with the earliest blush Of infant passion, scarcely dare to show Their pearly lustre—coming but to go;

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396â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And some break forth when others’ sorrows crush The sympathizing heart. Nor these, nor yet The noblest drops to admiration known, To gratitude, to injuries forgiv’n, Claim Heaven’s regard like waters that have wet The innocent eyes of youthful monarchs driven To pen the mandates, nature doth disown.

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XXV. Cranmer Outstretching flame-ward his upbraided hand (O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat Of judgment such presumptuous doom repeat!) Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand; Firm as the stake to which with iron band His Frame is tied; firm from the naked feet To the bare head, the victory complete; The shrouded Body, to the Soul’s command, Answering with more than Indian fortitude, Through all her nerves with finer sense endued; Now wrapt in flames—and now in smoke embowered— Till self-reproach and panting aspirations Are, with the heart that held them, all devoured; The Spirit set free, and crown’d with joyful acclamations!

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XXVI. General View of the Troubles of the Reformation Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light Our mortal ken! Inspire a perfect trust (While we look round) that Heaven’s decrees are just; Which few can hold committed to a fight That shews, ev’n on its better side, the might Of proud Self-will, Rapacity, and Lust, ’Mid clouds envelop’d of polemic dust, Which showers of blood seem rather to incite Than to allay.—Anathemas are hurled From both sides; veteran thunders (the brute test Of Truth) are met by fulminations new— Tartarean flags are caught at, and unfurled— Friends strike at Friends—the flying shall pursue—

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 397 And Victory sickens, ignorant where to rest! XXVII. English Reformers in Exile Scattering, like Birds escaped the Fowler’s net, Some seek with timely flight a foreign strand, Most happy, re-assembled in a land By dauntless Luther freed, could they forget Their Country’s woes. But scarcely have they met, Partners in faith, and Brothers in distress, Free to pour forth their common thankfulness, Ere hope declines; their union is beset With prurient speculations rashly sown, Whence thickly-sprouting growth of poisonous weeds; Their forms are broken staves; their passions steeds That master them. How enviably blest Is he who can, by help of grace, enthrone The peace of God within his single breast!

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XXVIII. Elizabeth Hail, Virgin Queen! o’er many an envious bar Triumphant—snatched from many a treacherous wile! All hail, Sage Lady, whom a grateful Isle Hath blest, respiring from that dismal war Stilled by thy voice! But quickly from afar Defiance breathes with more malignant aim; And alien storms with home-bred ferments claim Portentous fellowship. Her silver car Meanwhile, by prudence ruled, glides slowly on; Unhurt by violence, from menaced taint Emerging pure, and seemingly more bright! For, wheresoe’er she moves, the clouds anon Disperse; or—under a Divine constraint— Reflect some portion of her glorious light! XXIX. Eminent Reformers Methinks that I could trip o’er heaviest soil, Light as a buoyant Bark from wave to wave, Were mine the trusty Staff that Jewel gave To youthful Hooker, in familiar style

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398â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The gift exalting, and with playful smile: For, thus equipped, and bearing on his head The Donor’s farewell blessing, could he dread Tempest, or length of way, or weight of toil? More sweet than odours caught by him who sails Near spicy shores of Araby the blest, A thousand times more exquisitely sweet, The freight of holy feeling which we meet, In thoughtful moments, wafted by the gales From fields where good men walk, or bowers wherein they rest.

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XXX. The Same Holy and heavenly Spirits as they were, Spotless in life, and eloquent as wise, With what entire affection did they prize Their new-born Church! labouring with earnest care To baffle all that might her strength impair; That Church—the unperverted Gospel’s seat; In their afflictions a divine retreat; Source of their liveliest hope, and tenderest prayer! The Truth exploring with an equal mind, In polity and discipline they sought Firmly between the two extremes to steer; But theirs the wise man’s ordinary lot, To trace right courses for the stubborn blind, And prophesy to ears that will not hear.

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XXXI. Distractionsâ•› Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy Their Forefathers;—lo! Sects are formed—and split With morbid restlessness—the ecstatic fit Spreads wide; though special mysteries multiply, The Saints must govern, is their common cry; And so they labour; deeming Holy Writ Disgraced by aught that seems content to sit Beneath the roof of settled Modesty.

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  See WW’s note at the end of this volume. â•… “A common device in religious and political conflicts. See Strype in support of this instance.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 399 The Romanist exults; fresh hope he draws From the confusion—craftily incites The overweening—personates the mad— To heap disgust upon the worthier Cause: The Throne is plagued; the New-born Church is sad, For every wave against her peace unites.

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XXXII. Gunpowder Plot Fear hath a hundred eyes that all agree To plague her beating heart; and there is one (Nor idlest that!) which holds communion With things that were not, yet were meant to be. Aghast within its gloomy cavity That eye (which sees as if fulfilled and done Crimes that might stop the motion of the sun) Beholds the horrible catastrophe Of an assembled Senate unredeemed From subterraneous Treason’s darkling power: Merciless act of sorrow infinite! Worse than the product of that dismal night, When gushing, copious as a thunder shower, The blood of Huguenots through Paris stream’d.

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XXXIII. Illustration The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen A brilliant crown of everlasting Snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene Can link with desolation. Smooth and green, And seeming, at a little distance, slow, The waters of the Rhine; but on they go Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen, Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood, Turned to a fearful Thing whose nostrils breathe Blasts of tempestuous smoke—wherewith he tries To hide himself but only magnifies; And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe, Deafening the region in his ireful mood.   “The Jung-frau.” WW

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400â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXXIV. Troubles of Charles the First. Such contrast, in whatever track we move, To the mind’s eye Religion doth present; Now with her own deep quietness content; Then, like the mountain, thundering from above Against the ancient Pine-trees of the grove And the Land’s humblest comforts. Now her mood Recals the transformation of the flood, Whose rage the gentle skies in vain reprove, Earth cannot check. O terrible excess Of headstrong will! Can this be Piety? No—some fierce Maniac hath usurp’d her name; And scourges England struggling to be free: Her peace destroyed! her hopes a wilderness! Her blessings curs’d—her glory turn’d to shame!

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XXXV. Laudâ•› Pursued by Hate, debarred from friendly care; An old weak Man for vengeance thrown aside, Long “in the painful art of dying” tried, (Like a poor Bird entangled in a Snare Whose heart still flutters, though his wings forbear To stir in useless struggle) Laud relied Upon the strength which Innocence supplied, And in his prison breathed celestial air. Why tarries then thy Chariot? Wherefore stay, O Death! the ensanguined yet triumphant wheels, Which thou prepar’st, full often, to convey (What time a State with madding faction reels) The Saint or Patriot to the world that heals All wounds, all perturbations doth allay? XXXVI. Afflictions of England Harp! couldst thou venture, on thy boldest string, The faintest note to echo which the blast Caught from the hand of Moses as it pass’d O’er Sinai’s top, or from the Shepherd King,   See WW’s note at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 401 Early awake, by Siloa’s brook, to sing Of dread Jehovah; then, should wood and waste Hear also of that name, and mercy cast Off to the mountains, like a covering Of which the Lord was weary. Weep, oh weep, As good men wept beholding King and Priest Despised by that stern God to whom they raise Their suppliant hands; but holy is the feast He keepeth; like the firmament his ways; His statutes like the chambers of the deep.

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Ecclesiastical Sketches Part III from the restoration, to the present times

I I saw the figure of a lovely Maid Seated alone beneath a darksome Tree, Whose fondly overhanging canopy Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade. Substance she seem’d (and that my heart betrayed, For she was one I loved exceedingly;) But while I gazed in tender reverie (Or was it sleep that with my Fancy play’d?) The bright corporeal presence, form, and face, Remaining still distinct, grew thin and rare, Like sunny mist; at length the golden hair, Shape, limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace Each with the other, in a lingering race Of dissolution, melted into air.

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II. Patriotic Sympathies Last night, without a voice, this Vision spake Fear to my Spirit—passion that might seem To lie dissevered from our present theme; Yet do I love my Country—and partake Of kindred agitations for her sake; She visits oftentimes my midnight dream;

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402â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Her glory meets me with the earliest beam Of light, which tells that morning is awake: If aught impair her beauty or destroy, Or but forebode destruction, I deplore With filial love the sad vicissitude; If she hath fallen and righteous Heaven restore The prostrate, then my spring-time is renewed, And sorrow bartered for exceeding joy.

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III. Charles the Second Who comes with rapture greeted, and caress’d With frantic love—his kingdom to regain? Him Virtue’s Nurse, Adversity, in vain Received, and fostered in her iron breast: For all she taught of hardiest and of best, Or would have taught, by discipline of pain And long privation, now dissolves amain, Or is remembered only to give zest To wantonness.—Away, Circean revels! Already stands our Country on the brink Of bigot rage, that all distinction levels Of truth and falsehood, swallowing the good name, And, with that draught, the life-blood: misery, shame, By Poets loathed; from which Historians shrink!

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IV. Latitudinarianism Yet Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind Charged with rich words poured out in Thought’s defence; Whether the Church inspire that eloquence, Or a Platonic Piety—confined To the sole temple of the inward mind; And One there is who builds immortal lays, Though doomed to tread in solitary ways, Darkness before, and danger’s voice behind! Yet not alone, nor helpless to repel Sad thoughts; for from above the starry sphere Come secrets—whispered nightly to his ear; And the pure spirit of celestial light Shines through his soul—“that he may see and tell

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 403 Of things invisible to mortal sight.” V. Walton’s Book of “Lives” There are no colours in the fairest sky So fair as these. The feather whence the pen Was shaped that traced the lives of these good Men, Dropped from an Angel’s wing. With moistened eye We read of faith and purest charity In Statesman, Priest, and humble Citizen. O, could we copy their mild virtues, then What joy to live, what blessedness to die! Methinks their very Names shine still and bright, Apart—like glow-worms in the woods of spring, Or lonely tapers shooting far a light That guides and cheers,—or seen, like stars on high, Satellites burning in a lucid ring Around meek Walton’s heavenly memory.

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VI. Clerical Integrity Nor shall the eternal roll of praise reject Those Unconforming; whom one rigorous day Drives from their Cures, a voluntary prey To poverty and grief, and disrespect, And some to want—as if by tempest wreck’d On a wild coast; how destitute! did They Feel not that Conscience never can betray, That peace of mind is Virtue’s sure effect. Their Altars they forego, their homes they quit, Fields which they love, and paths they daily trod, And cast the future upon Providence; As men the dictate of whose inward sense Outweighs the world; whom self-deceiving wit Lures not from what they deem the cause of God. VII. Acquittal of the Bishops A voice, from long-expectant thousands sent, Shatters the air and troubles tower and spire— For Justice hath absolved the Innocent, And Tyranny is balked of her desire:

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404â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Up—down the busy Thames—rapid as fire Coursing a train of gunpowder—it went, And transport finds in every street a vent, Till the whole City rings like one vast quire. The Fathers urge the People to be still With outstretched hands and earnest voice—in vain! Yea, many, haply wont to entertain Small reverence for the Mitre’s offices, And to Religion’s self no friendly will, A Prelate’s blessing ask on bended knees.

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VIII. William the Third Calm as an under current—strong to draw Millions of waves into itself, and run, From sea to sea, impervious to the sun And ploughing storm—the spirit of Nassau (By constant impulse of religious awe Swayed, and thereby enabled to contend With the wide world’s commotions) from its end Swerves not—diverted by a casual law. Had mortal action e’er a nobler scope? The Hero comes to liberate, not defy; And while he marches on with righteous hope, Conqueror beloved! expected anxiously! The vacillating Bondman of the Pope Shrinks from the verdict of his steadfast eye.

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IX. Obligations of Civil to Religious Liberty Ungrateful Country, if thou e’er forget The sons who for thy civil rights have bled! How, like a Roman, Sidney bowed his head, And Russel’s milder blood the scaffold wet; But These had fallen for profitless regret Had not thy holy Church her Champions bred, And claims from other worlds inspirited The Star of Liberty to rise. Nor yet (Grave this within thy heart!) if spiritual things Be lost, through apathy, or scorn, or fear, Shalt thou thy humbler franchises support,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 405 However hardly won or justly dear; What came from Heaven to Heaven by nature clings, And, if dissevered thence, its course is short. X. Places of Worship As star that shines dependent upon star Is to the sky while we look up in love; As to the deep fair ships which though they move Seem fixed, to eyes that watch them from afar; As to the sandy desart fountains are, With palm groves shaded at wide intervals, Whose fruit around the sun-burnt Native falls Of roving tired or desultory war; Such to this British Isle her Christian Fanes, Each linked to each for kindred services; Her Spires, her Steeple-towers with glittering vanes Far-kenned, her Chapels lurking among trees, Where a few villagers on bended knees Find solace which a busy world disdains.

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XI. Pastoral Characterâ•› A genial hearth, a hospitable board, And a refined rusticity, belong To the neat Mansion, where, his Flock among, The learned Pastor dwells, their watchful Lord. Though meek and patient as a sheathèd sword, Though pride’s least lurking thought appear a wrong To human kind; though peace be on his tongue, Gentleness in his heart; can earth afford Such genuine state, pre-eminence so free, As when, arrayed in Christ’s authority, He from the Pulpit lifts his awful hand; Conjures, implores, and labours all he can For re-subjecting to divine command The stubborn spirit of rebellious Man?

  See WW’s note at the end of this volume.

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406â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XII. The Liturgy Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Attract us still, and passionate exercise Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies Distinct with signs—through which, in fixed career, As through a zodiac, moves the ritual year Of England’s Church—stupendous mysteries! Which whoso travels in her bosom, eyes As he approaches them, with solemn cheer. Enough for us to cast a transient glance The circle through; relinquishing its story For those whom Heaven hath fitted to advance And, harp in hand, rehearse the King of Glory— From his mild advent till his countenance Shall dissipate the seas and mountains hoary.

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XIII. Catechizing From little down to least—in due degree, Around the Pastor, each in new-wrought vest, Each with a vernal posy at his breast, We stood, a trembling, earnest Company! With low soft murmur, like a distant bee, Some spake, by thought-perplexing fears betrayed; And some a bold unerring answer made: How fluttered then thy anxious heart for me, Beloved Mother! Thou whose happy hand Had bound the flowers I wore, with faithful tie: Sweet flowers! at whose inaudible command Her countenance, phantom-like, doth re-appear: O lost too early for the frequent tear, And ill requited by this heart-felt sigh!

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XIV. Rural Ceremonyâ•› With smiles each happy face was overspread, That trial ended. Give we to a day Of festal joy one tributary lay;   “This is still continued in many Churches in Westmoreland. It takes place in the month of July, when the floor of the Stalls is strewn with fresh rushes: and hence it is called the ‘Rush-bearing.’â•›” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 407 That day when, forth by rustic music led, The village Children, while the sky is red With evening lights, advance in long array Through the still Church-yard, each with garland gay, That, carried sceptre-like, o’ertops the head Of the proud Bearer. To the wide Church-door, Charged with these offerings which their Fathers bore For decoration in the Papal time, The innocent procession softly moves:— The spirit of Laud is pleased in Heav’n’s pure clime, And Hooker’s voice the spectacle approves!

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XV. Regrets Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave Less scanty measure of those graceful rites And usages, whose due return invites A stir of mind too natural to deceive; Giving the Memory help when she would weave A crown for Hope! I dread the boasted lights That all too often are but fiery blights, Killing the bud o’er which in vain we grieve. Go, seek, when Christmas snows discomfort bring, The counter Spirit found in some gay Church Green with fresh Holly, every pew a perch In which the linnet or the thrush might sing, Merry and loud, and safe from prying search, Strains offered only to the genial Spring.

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XVI. Mutability From low to high doth dissolution climb, And sinks from high to low, along a scale Of awful notes, whose concord shall not fail; A musical but melancholy chime, Which they can hear who meddle not with crime, Nor avarice, nor over-anxious care. Truth fails not; but her outward forms that bear The longest date do melt like frosty rime, That in the morning whitened hill and plain And is no more; drop like the tower sublime

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408â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of yesterday, which royally did wear Its crown of weeds, but could not even sustain Some casual shout that broke the silent air, Or the unimaginable touch of Time. XVII. Old Abbeys Monastic Domes! following my downward way, Untouched by due regret I marked your fall! Now, ruin, beauty, ancient stillness, all Dispose to judgments temperate as we lay On our past selves in life’s declining day: For as, by discipline of Time made wise, We learn to tolerate the infirmities And faults of others, gently as he may Towards our own the mild Instructor deals, Teaching us to forget them or forgive. Perversely curious, then, for hidden ill Why should we break Time’s charitable seals? Once ye were holy, ye are holy still; Your spirit freely let me drink and live!

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XVIII. Congratulation Thus all things lead to Charity—secured By them who bless’d the soft and happy gale That landward urged the great Deliverer’s sail, Till in the sunny bay his fleet was moored! Propitious hour! had we, like them, endured Sore stress of apprehension, with a mind Sickened by injuries, dreading worse designed, From month to month trembling and unassured, How had we then rejoiced! But we have felt, As a loved substance, their futurity; Good, which they dared not hope for, we have seen; A State whose generous will through earth is dealt; A State, which balancing herself between Licence and slavish order, dares be free.

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  “This is borrowed from an affecting passage in Mr. George Dyer’s History of Cambridge.”   “See Burnet, who is unusually animated on this subject; the east wind, so anxiously expected and prayed for, was called the ‘Protestant wind.’â•›” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 409 XIX. New Churches But liberty, and triumphs on the Main, And laurelled Armies—not to be withstood, What serve they? if, on transitory good Intent, and sedulous of abject gain, The State (ah surely not preserved in vain!) Forbear to shape due channels which the Flood Of sacred Truth may enter—till it brood O’er the wide realm, as o’er the Egyptian Plain The all-sustaining Nile. No more—the time Is conscious of her want; through England’s bounds, In rival haste, the wished-for Temples rise! I hear their Sabbath bells’ harmonious chime Float on the breeze—the heavenliest of all sounds That hill or vale prolongs or multiplies!

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XX. Church to be Erected Be this the chosen site—the virgin sod, Moistened from age to age by dewy eve, Shall disappear—and grateful earth receive The corner-stone from hands that build to God. Yon reverend hawthorns, hardened to the rod Of Winter storms yet budding cheerfully; Those forest oaks of Druid memory, Shall long survive, to shelter the Abode Of genuine Faith. Where, haply, ’mid this band Of daisies, Shepherds sate of yore and wove May-garlands, let the holy Altar stand For kneeling adoration; while above, Broods, visibly pourtrayed, the mystic Dove, That shall protect from Blasphemy the Land.

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XXI. Continued Mine ear has rung, my spirits sunk subdued, Sharing the strong emotion of the crowd, When each pale brow to dread hosannas bowed While clouds of incense mounting veiled the rood, That glimmered like a pine-tree dimly viewed

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410â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Through Alpine vapours. Such appalling rite Our Church prepares not, trusting to the might Of simple truth with grace divine imbued; Yet will we not conceal the precious Cross, Like Men ashamed: the Sun with his first smile Shall greet that symbol crowning the low Pile; And the fresh air of “incense-breathing morn” Shall wooingly embrace it; and green moss Creep round its arms through centuries unborn.

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XXII. New Church Yard The encircling ground, in native turf array’d, Is now by solemn consecration given To social interests, and to favouring Heaven; And where the rugged Colts their gambols play’d, And wild Deer bounded through the forest glade, Unchecked as when by merry Outlaw driven, Shall hymns of praise resound at morn and even; And soon, full soon, the lonely Sexton’s spade Shall wound the tender sod. Encincture small, But infinite its grasp of joy and woe! Hopes, fears, in never-ending ebb and flow— The spousal trembling—and the “dust to dust”— The prayers—the contrite struggle—and the trust That to the Almighty Father looks through all!

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XXIII. Cathedrals, &c. Open your Gates ye everlasting Piles! Types of the spiritual Church which God hath reared; Not loth we quit the newly-hallowed sward And humble altar, ’mid your sumptuous aisles To kneel—or thrid your intricate defiles— Or down the nave to pace in motion slow, Watching, with upward eyes, the tall tower grow And mount, at every step, with living wiles Instinct—to rouse the heart and lead the will By a bright ladder to the world above.

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  “The Lutherans have retained the Cross within their Churches; it is to be regretted that we have not done the same.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 411 Open your Gates, ye Monuments of love Divine! thou Lincoln, on thy sovereign hill! Thou, stately York! and Ye, whose splendors cheer Isis and Cam, to patient Science dear! XXIV. Inside of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense, With ill-matched aims the Architect who planned, Albeit labouring for a scanty band Of white-robed Scholars only, this immense And glorious Work of fine Intelligence! Give all thou canst; high Heaven rejects the lore Of nicely-calculated less or more; So deemed the Man who fashioned for the sense These lofty pillars—spread that branching roof Self-poised, and scooped into ten thousand cells, Where light and shade repose, where music dwells Lingering—and wandering on as loth to die, Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof That they were born for immortality.

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XXV. The Same What awful pèrspective! while from our sight Their portraiture the lateral windows hide, Glimmers their corresponding stone-work, dyed With the soft chequerings of a sleepy light. Martyr, or King, or sainted Eremite, Whoe’er ye be, that thus—yourselves unseen— Imbue your prison-bars with solemn sheen, Shine on, until ye fade with coming Night! But, from the arms of silence—list! O list! The music bursteth into second life— The notes luxuriate—every stone is kiss’d By sound, or ghost of sound, in mazy strife; Heart-thrilling strains, that cast before the eye Of the Devout a veil of ecstasy! XXVI. Continued They dreamt not of a perishable home

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412â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Who thus could build. Be mine, in hours of fear Or grovelling thought, to seek a refuge here; Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam; Where bubbles burst, and folly’s dancing foam Melts, if it cross the threshold; where the wreath Of awe-struck wisdom droops: or let my path Lead to that younger Pile, whose sky-like dome Hath typified by reach of daring art Infinity’s embrace; whose guardian crest, The silent Cross, among the stars shall spread As now, when she hath also seen her breast Filled with mementos, satiate with its part Of grateful England’s overflowing Dead.

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XXVII. Ejaculation Glory to God! and to the Power who came In filial duty, clothed with love divine; That made his human tabernacle shine Like Ocean burning with purpureal flame; Or like the Alpine Mount, that takes its name From roseate hues, far kenn’d at morn and even, In hours of peace, or when the storm is driven Along the nether region’s rugged frame! Earth prompts—Heaven urges; let us seek the light, Studious of that pure intercourse begun When first our infant brows their lustre won; So, like the Mountain, may we grow more bright From unimpeded commerce with the Sun, At the approach of all-involving night.

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XXVIII. Conclusion Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled, Coil within coil, at noon-tide? For the Word Yields, if with unpresumptuous faith explored, Power at whose touch the sluggard shall unfold His drowsy rings. Look forth! that Stream behold, That Stream upon whose bosom we have pass’d

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  “Some say that Monte Rosa takes its name from a belt of rock at its summit—a very unpoetical and scarcely a probable supposition.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 413 Floating at ease while nations have effaced Nations, and Death has gathered to his fold Long lines of mighty Kings—look forth, my Soul! (Nor in that vision be thou slow to trust) The living Waters, less and less by guilt Stained and polluted, brighten as they roll, Till they have reached the Eternal City—built For the perfected Spirits of the just!

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[Poems not included in series as first published] [Druid Temple] And thus a Structure potent to enchain The eye of Wonder rose in this fair Isle; Not built with calculations nice and vain But in mysterious Nature’s boldest style, Yet orderly as some basaltic Pile That steadfastly repels the fretful main.

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The Point at Issue For what contend the wise? for nothing less Than that pure Faith dissolve the bonds of Sense; The Soul restored to God by evidence Of things not seen—drawn forth from their recess, Root there, and not in forms, her holiness: That Faith which to the Patriarchs did dispense Sure guidance, ere a ceremonial fence Was needful round men thirsting to transgress; That Faith, more perfect still, with which the Lord Of all, himself a Spirit, in the youth Of Christian aspiration, deigned to fill The temples of their hearts—who, with his word Informed, were resolute to do his will, And worship him in spirit and in truth. Revival of Popery Melts into silent shades the Youth, discrowned By unrelenting Death. O People keen

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414â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth For change, to whom the new looks always green! They cast, they cast with joy upon the ground Their Gods of wood and stone; and, at the sound Of counter-proclamation, now are seen, (Proud triumph is it for a sullen Queen!) Lifting them up, the worship to confound Of the Most High. Again do they invoke The Creature, to the Creature glory give; Again with frankincense the altars smoke Like those the Heathen served; and mass is sung; And prayer, man’s rational prerogative, Runs through blind channels of an unknown tongue.

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Latimer and Ridley How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled! See Latimer and Ridley in the might Of Faith stand coupled for a common flight! One (like those Prophets whom God sent of old) Transfigured, from this kindling hath foretold A torch of inextinguishable light; The other gains a confidence as bold; And thus they foil their enemy’s despite. The penal instruments, the shows of crime, Are glorified while this once-mitred pair Of saintly Friends, “the Murtherer’s chain partake, Corded, and burning at the social stake:” Earth never witnessed object more sublime In constancy, in fellowship more fair!

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Persecution of the Scottish Convenanters When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry, The majesty of England interposed And the sword stopped; the bleeding wounds were closed; And Faith preserved her ancient purity. How little boots that precedent of good, Scorned or forgotten, Thou canst testify, For England’s shame, O Sister Realm! from wood, Mountain, and moor, and crowded street, where lie   See WW’s note at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 415 The headless martyrs of the Covenant, Slain by compatriot-protestants that draw From councils senseless as intolerant Their warrant. Bodies fall by wild sword-law; But who would force the Soul, tilts with a straw Against a Champion cased in adamant.

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“Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design” Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design Have we pursued, with livelier stir of heart Than his who sees, borne forward by the Rhine, The living landscapes greet him, and depart; Sees spires fast sinking—up again to start! And strives the towers to number, that recline O’er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line Striding with shattered crests the eye athwart;— So have we hurried on with troubled pleasure: Henceforth, as on the bosom of a stream That slackens, and spreads wide a watery gleam, We, nothing loth a lingering course to measure, May gather up our thoughts, and mark at leisure Features that else had vanished like a dream.

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Sacheverell A sudden conflict rises from the swell Of a proud slavery met by tenets strained In Liberty’s behalf. Fears, true or feigned, Spread through all ranks; and lo! the Sentinel Who loudest rang his pulpit larum bell, Stands at the Bar—absolved by female eyes, Mingling their Light with graver flatteries, Lavished on Him that England may rebel Against her ancient virtue. High and Low, Watch-words of Party, on all tongues are rife; As if a Church, though sprung from heaven, must owe To opposites and fierce extremes her life,— Not to the golden mean, and quiet flow Of truths that soften hatred, temper strife.

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416â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Baptism Blest be the Church, that, watching o’er the needs Of Infancy, provides a timely shower, Whose virtue changes to a Christian Flower The sinful product of a bed of Weeds! Fitliest beneath the sacred roof proceeds The Ministration; while parental Love Looks on, and Grace descendeth from above As the high service pledges now, now pleads. There, should vain thoughts outspread their wings and fly To meet the coming hours of festal mirth, The tombs which hear and answer that brief cry, The Infant’s notice of his second birth, Recal the wandering soul to sympathy With what Man hopes from Heaven, yet fears from Earth.

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Confirmation The Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale, With holiday delight on every brow: ’Tis passed away; far other thoughts prevail; For they are taking the baptismal Vow Upon their conscious selves; their own lips speak The solemn promise. Strongest sinews fail, And many a blooming, many a lovely cheek Under the holy fear of God turns pale, While on each head his lawn-robed Servant lays An apostolic hand, and with prayer seals The Covenant. The Omnipotent will raise Their feeble Souls; and bear with his regrets, Who, looking round the fair assemblage, feels That ere the Sun goes down their childhood sets.

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Confirmation Continued I saw a Mother’s eye intensely bent Upon a Maiden trembling as she knelt; In and for whom the pious Mother felt Things that we judge of by a light too faint: Tell, if ye may, some star-crowned Muse, or Saint!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 417 Tell what rushed in, from what she was relieved— Then, when her Child the hallowing touch received, And such vibration to the Mother went That tears burst forth amain. Did gleams appear? Opened a vision of that blissful place Where dwells a Sister-child? And was power given Part of her lost One’s glory back to trace Even to this Rite? For thus She knelt, and, ere The Summer-leaf had faded, passed to Heaven.

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Sacrament By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied: One duty more, last stage of this ascent, Brings to thy food, memorial Sacrament! The Offspring, haply at the Parent’s side; But not till They, with all that do abide In Heaven, have lifted up their hearts to laud And magnify the glorious name of God, Fountain of Grace, whose Son for Sinners died. Here must my Song in timid reverence pause: But shrink not, ye, whom to the saving rite The Altar calls; come early under laws That can secure for you a path of light Through gloomiest shade; put on (nor dread its weight) Armour divine, and conquer in your cause!

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Emigrant French Clergy Even while I speak, the sacred roofs of France Are shattered into dust; and self-exiled From Altars threatened, levelled, or defiled, Wander the Ministers of God, as chance Opens a way for life, or consonance Of Faith invites. More welcome to no land The fugitives than to the British strand, Where Priest and Layman with the vigilance Of true compassion greet them. Creed and test Vanish before the unreserved embrace Of Catholic humanity:—distrest They came,—and, while the moral tempest roars

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418â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Throughout the Country they have left, our shores Give to their Faith a dreadless resting-place. Sponsors Father! to God himself we cannot give A holier name! Then lightly do not bear Both names conjoined—but of thy spiritual care Be duly mindful; still more sensitive Do Thou, in truth a second Mother, strive Against disheartening custom, that by Thee Watched, and with love and pious industry Tended at need, the adopted Plant may thrive For everlasting bloom. Benign and pure This Ordinance, whether loss it would supply, Prevent omission, help deficiency, Or seek to make assurance doubly sure. Shame if the consecrated Vow be found An idle form, the Word an empty sound!

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[The three following Sonnets are an intended addition to the “Ecclesiastical Sketches,” the first to stand second; and the two that succeed, seventh and eighth, in the second part of the Series.—See the Author’s Poems.—They are placed here as having some connection with the foregoing Poem.]

“Deplorable his lot who tills the ground” Deplorable his lot who tills the ground, His whole life long tills it, with heartless toil Of villain-service, passing with the soil To each new Master, like a steer or hound, Or like a rooted tree, or stone earth-bound; But mark how gladly, through their own domains, The Monks relax or break these iron chains; While Mercy, uttering, through their voice, a sound Echoed in Heaven, cries out, “Ye Chiefs, abate These legalized oppressions! Man, whose name And nature God disdained not; Man, whose soul Christ died for, cannot forfeit his high claim To live and move exempt from all controul Which fellow-feeling doth not mitigate!”

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 419 The Vaudois But whence came they who for the Saviour Lord Have long borne witness as the Scriptures teach? Ages ere Valdo raised his voice to preach In Gallic ears the unadulterate Word, Their fugitive Progenitors explored Subalpine vales, in quest of safe retreats Where that pure Church survives, though summer heats Open a passage to the Romish sword, Far as it dares to follow. Herbs self-sown, And fruitage gathered from the chestnut wood, Nourish the Sufferers then; and mists, that brood O’er chasms with new-fallen obstacles bestrown, Protect them; and the eternal snow that daunts Aliens, is God’s good winter for their haunts.

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“Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain-springs” Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain-springs Shouting to Freedom, “Plant thy Banners here!” To harassed Piety, “Dismiss thy fear, And in our Caverns smooth thy ruffled wings!” Nor be unthanked their tardiest lingerings ’Mid reedy fens wide-spread and marshes drear, Their own creation, till their long career End in the sea engulphed. Such welcomings As came from mighty Po when Venice rose, Greeted those simple Heirs of truth divine Who near his fountains sought obscure repose, Yet were prepared as glorious lights to shine, Should that be needed for their sacred Charge; Blest Prisoners They, whose spirits are at large!

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“Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered” Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered By wrong triumphant through its own excess, From fields laid waste, from house and home devoured By flames, look up to heaven and crave redress From God’s eternal justice. Pitiless

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420â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Though men be, there are angels that can feel For wounds that death alone has power to heal, For penitent guilt, and innocent distress. And has a Champion risen in arms to try His Country’s virtue, fought, and breathes no more; Him in their hearts the people canonize; And far above the mine’s most precious ore The least small pittance of bare mould they prize Scooped from the sacred earth where his dear relics lie.

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Aspects of Christianity in America I.—The Pilgrim Fathersâ•› Well worthy to be magnified are they Who, with sad hearts, of friends and country took A last farewell, their loved abodes forsook, And hallowed ground in which their fathers lay; Then to the new-found World explored their way, That so a Church, unforced, uncalled to brook Ritual restraints, within some sheltering nook Her Lord might worship and his word obey In freedom. Men they were who could not bend; Blest Pilgrims, surely, as they took for guide A will by sovereign Conscience sanctified; Blest while their Spirits from the woods ascend Along a Galaxy that knows no end, But in His glory who for Sinners died.

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II. Continued From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled   “This and the two following Sonnets are intended to take their place in the Ecclesiastical Series which the reader may find in the fourth volume of my Poems. American episcopacy, in union with the church in England, strictly belongs to the general subject; and I here make my acknowledgments to my American friends, Bishop Doane, and Mr. Henry Reed of Philadelphia, for having suggested to me the propriety of adverting to it, and pointed out the virtues and intellectual qualities of Bishop White, which so eminently fitted him for the great work he undertook. Bishop White was consecrated at Lambeth, Feb. 4, 1787, by Archbishop Moore; and before his long life was closed, twenty-six bishops had been consecrated in America by himself. For his character and opinions, see his own numerous Works, and a “Sermon in commemoration of him, by George Washington Doane, Bishop of New Jersey.”

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 421 To Wilds where both were utterly unknown; But not to them had Providence foreshown What benefits are missed, what evils bred, In worship neither raised nor limited Save by Self-will. Lo! from that distant shore, For Rite and Ordinance, Piety is led Back to the Land those Pilgrims left of yore, Led by her own free choice. So Truth and Love By Conscience governed do their steps retrace.— Fathers! your Virtues, such the power of grace, Their spirit, in your Children, thus approve. Transcendent over time, unbound by place, Concord and Charity in circles move.

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III. Concluded.—American Episcopacy Patriots informed with Apostolic light Were they, who, when their Country had been freed, Bowing with reverence to the ancient creed, Fixed on the frame of England’s Church their sight, And strove in filial love to reunite What force had severed. Thence they fetched the seed Of Christian unity, and won a meed Of praise from Heaven. To Thee, O saintly White, Patriarch of a wide-spreading family, Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn, Whether they would restore or build—to Thee, As one who rightly taught how zeal should burn, As one who drew from out Faith’s holiest urn The purest stream of patient Energy.

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“How soon—alas! did Man, created pure—” How soon—alas! did Man, created pure— By Angels guarded, deviate from the line Prescribed to duty:—woeful forfeiture He made by wilful breach of law divine. With like perverseness did the Church abjure Obedience to her Lord, and haste to twine, ’Mid Heaven-born flowers that shall for aye endure, Weeds on whose front the world had fixed her sign.

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422â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth O Man,—if with thy trials thus it fares, If good can smooth the way to evil choice, From all rash censure be the mind kept free; He only judges right who weighs, compares, And, in the sternest sentence which his voice Pronounces, ne’er abandons Charity.

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“From false assumption rose, and fondly hail’d” From false assumption rose, and fondly hail’d By superstition, spread the Papal power; Yet do not deem the Autocracy prevail’d Thus only, even in error’s darkest hour. She daunts, forth-thundering from her spiritual tower Brute rapine, or with gentle lure she tames. Justice and Peace through Her uphold their claims; And Chastity finds many a sheltering bower. Realm there is none that if controul’d or sway’d By her commands partakes not, in degree, Of good, o’er manners arts and arms, diffused: Yes, to thy domination, Roman See, Tho’ miserably, oft monstrously, abused By blind ambition, be this tribute paid.

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“As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest” As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest While from the Papal Unity there came, What feebler means had fail’d to give, one aim Diffused thro’ all the regions of the West; So does her Unity its power attest By works of Art, that shed, on the outward frame Of worship, glory and grace, which who shall blame That ever looked to heaven for final rest? Hail countless Temples! that so well befit Your ministry; that, as ye rise and take Form, spirit and character from holy writ, Give to devotion, wheresoe’er awake, Pinions of high and higher sweep, and make The unconverted soul with awe submit.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 423 “Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root” Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root In the blest soil of gospel truth, the Tree, (Blighted or scathed tho’ many branches be, Put forth to wither, many a hopeful shoot) Can never cease to bear celestial fruit. Witness the Church that oft times, with effect Dear to the saints, strives earnestly to eject Her bane, her vital energies recruit. Lamenting, do not hopelessly repine When such good work is doomed to be undone, The conquests lost that were so hardly won:— All promises vouchsafed by Heaven will shine In light confirmed while years their course shall run, Confirmed alike in progress and decline.

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“Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep” Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep (As yours above all offices is high) Deep in your hearts the sense of duty lie; Charged as ye are by Christ to feed and keep From wolves your portion of his chosen sheep: Labouring as ever in your Master’s sight, Making your hardest task your best delight, What perfect glory ye in Heaven shall reap!— But, in the solemn Office which ye sought And undertook premonished, if unsound Your practice prove, faithless though but in thought, Bishops and Priests, think what a gulf profound Awaits you then, if they were rightly taught Who framed the Ordinance by your lives disowned!

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The Marriage Ceremony. The Vested Priest before the Altar stands; Approach, come gladly, ye prepared, in sight Of God and chosen friends, your troth to plight With the symbolic ring, and willing hands Solemnly joined. Now sanctify the bands

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424â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth O Father!—to the Espoused thy blessing give, That mutually assisted they may live Obedient, as here taught, to thy commands. So prays the Church, to consecrate a Vow “The which would endless matrimony make;” Union that shadows forth and doth partake A mystery potent human love to endow With heavenly, each more prized for the other’s sake; Weep not, meek Bride! uplift thy timid brow.

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Thanksgiving after Childbirth Woman! the Power who left his throne on high, And deigned to wear the robe of flesh we wear, The Power that thro’ the straits of Infancy Did pass dependent on maternal care, His own humanity with Thee will share, Pleased with the thanks that in his People’s eye Thou offerest up for safe Delivery From Childbirth’s perilous throes. And should the Heir Of thy fond hopes hereafter walk inclined To courses fit to make a mother rue That ever he was born, a glance of mind Cast upon this observance may renew A better will; and, in the imagined view Of thee thus kneeling, safety he may find.

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Visitation of the Sick The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal; Glad music! yet there be that, worn with pain And sickness, listen where they long have lain, In sadness listen. With maternal zeal Inspired, the Church sends ministers to kneel Beside the afflicted; to sustain with prayer, And soothe the heart confession hath laid bare— That pardon, from God’s throne, may set its seal On a true Penitent. When breath departs From one disburthened so, so comforted, His Spirit Angels greet; and ours be hope That, if the Sufferer rise from his sick-bed,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 425 Hence he will gain a firmer mind, to cope With a bad world, and foil the Tempter’s arts. The Commination Service Shun not this Rite, neglected, yea abhorred, By some of unreflecting mind, as calling Man to curse man, (thought monstrous and appalling.) Go thou and hear the threatenings of the Lord; Listening within his Temple see his sword Unsheathed in wrath to strike the offender’s head, Thy own, if sorrow for thy sin be dead, Guilt unrepented, pardon unimplored. Two aspects bears Truth needful for salvation; Who knows not that?—yet would this delicate age Look only on the Gospel’s brighter page: Let light and dark duly our thoughts employ; So shall the fearful words of Commination Yield timely fruit of peace and love and joy.

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Forms of Prayer at Sea To kneeling Worshippers no earthly floor Gives holier invitation than the deck Of a storm-shattered Vessel saved from Wreck (When all that Man could do avail’d no more) By him who raised the Tempest and restrains: Happy the crew who this have felt, and pour Forth for his mercy, as the Church ordains, Solemn thanksgiving. Nor will they implore In vain who, for a rightful cause, give breath To words the Church prescribes aiding the lip For the heart’s sake, ere ship with hostile ship Encounters, armed for work of pain and death. Suppliants! the God to whom your cause ye trust Will listen, and ye know that He is just. Funeral Service From the Baptismal hour, thro’ weal and woe, The church extends her care to thought and deed; Nor quits the Body when the Soul is freed,

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426â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The mortal weight cast off to be laid low. Blest Rite for him who hears in faith, “I know That my Redeemer liveth,”—hears each word That follows—striking on some kindred chord Deep in the thankful heart;—yet tears will flow. Man is as grass that springeth up at morn, Grows green, and is cut down and withereth Ere nightfall—truth that well may claim a sigh, Its natural echo; but hope comes reborn At Jesu’s bidding. We rejoice, “O Death Where is thy Sting?—O Grave where is thy Victory?”

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427

Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820. Dedication Dear Fellow-Travellers! think not that the Muse Presents to notice these memorial Lays, Hoping the general eye thereon will gaze, As on a mirror that gives back the hues Of living Nature; no—though free to chuse The greenest bowers, the most inviting ways, The fairest landscapes and the brightest days, She felt too deeply what her skill must lose. For You she wrought;—ye only can supply The life, the truth, the beauty: she confides In that enjoyment which with you abides, Trusts to your love and vivid memory; Thus far contented that for You her verse Shall lack not power the “meeting soul to pierce!” w. wordsworth. â•… Rydal Mount, â•… January 1822.

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Sonnet. Fish-women —on landing at calais ’Tis said, fantastic Ocean doth enfold The likeness of whate’er on Land is seen; But, if the Nereid Sisters and their Queen, Above whose heads the Tide so long hath roll’d, The Dames resemble whom we here behold, How terrible beneath the opening waves To sink, and meet them in their fretted caves, Withered, grotesque, immeasurably old, And shrill and fierce in accent!—Fear it not;

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  For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820–1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 351–356, and 419–441.   “If in this Sonnet I should seem to have borne a little too hard upon the personal appearance of the worthy Poissardes of Calais, let me take shelter under the authority of my lamented Friend the late Sir George Beaumont. He, a most accurate observer, used to say of them, that their features and countenances seemed to have conformed to those of the creatures they dealt in; at all events the resemblance was striking.” WW

428â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth For they Earth’s fairest Daughters do excel; Pure unmolested beauty is their lot; Their voices into liquid music swell, Thrilling each pearly cleft and sparry grot— The undisturbed Abodes where Sea-nymphs dwell!

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Sonnet bruges

Bruges I saw attired with golden light (Streamed from the west) as with a robe of power: ’Tis passed away;—and now the sunless hour, That slowly introducing peaceful night Best suits with fallen grandeur, to my sight Offers her beauty, her magnificence, And all the graces left her for defence Against the injuries of time, the spite Of Fortune, and the desolating storms Of future War. Advance not—spare to hide, O gentle Power of Darkness! these mild hues; Obscure not yet these silent avenues Of stateliest Architecture, where the forms Of Nun-like Females, with soft motion, glide!

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Sonnet bruges

The Spirit of Antiquity, enshrined In sumptuous Buildings, vocal in sweet Song And Tales transmitted through the popular tongue, And with devout solemnities entwined, Strikes at the seat of grace within the mind: Hence Forms that slide with swan-like ease along; Hence motions, even amid the vulgar throng, To an harmonious decency confined: As if the Streets were consecrated ground, The City one vast Temple—dedicate To mutual respect in thought and deed; To leisure, to forbearances sedate;   See WW’s note at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 429 To social cares from jarring passions freed; A nobler peace than that in desarts found! Sonnet after visiting the field of waterloo

A winged Goddess, clothed in vesture wrought Of rainbow colours; One whose port was bold, Whose overburthened hand could scarcely hold The glittering crowns and garlands which it brought, Hover’d in air above the far-famed Spot. She vanished—All was joyless, blank, and cold; But if from wind-swept fields of corn that roll’d In dreary billows, from the meagre cot, And monuments that soon may disappear, Meanings we craved which could not there be found; If the wide prospect seemed an envious seal Of great exploits; we felt as Men should feel, With such vast hoards of hidden carnage near, And horror breathing from the silent ground!

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Sonnet scenery between namur and liege

What lovelier home could gentle Fancy chuse? Is this the Stream, whose cities, heights, and plains, War’s favorite play-ground, are with crimson stains Familiar, as the Morn with pearly dews? The Morn, that now along the silver Meuse Spreading her peaceful ensigns, calls the Swains To tend their silent boats and ringing wains, Or strip the bough whose mellow fruit bestrews The ripening corn beneath it. As mine eyes Turn from the fortified and threatening hill, How sweet the prospect of yon watery glade, With its grey rocks, clustering in pensive shade, That, shaped like old monastic turrets, rise From the smooth meadow-ground, serene and still!

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430â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sonnet aix-la-chapelle

Was it to disenchant, and to undo, That we approached the Seat of Charlemaine? To sweep from many an old romantic strain That faith which no devotion may renew! Why does this puny Church present to view Its feeble columns? and that scanty Chair! This Sword that One of our weak times might wear; Objects of false pretence, or meanly true! If from a Traveller’s fortune I might claim A palpable memorial of that day, Then would I seek the Pyrenean Breach Which Roland clove with huge two-handed sway, And to the enormous labor left his name, Where unremitting frosts the rocky Crescent bleach.

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Sonnet in the cathedral at cologne

O for the help of Angels to complete This Temple—Angels governed by a Plan How gloriously pursued by daring Man, Studious that He might not disdain the Seat Who dwells in Heaven! But that inspiring heat Hath failed; and now, ye Powers! whose gorgeous wings And splendid aspect yon emblazonings But faintly picture, ’twere an office meet For you, on these unfinished Shafts to try The midnight virtues of your harmony:— This vast Design might tempt you to repeat

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  In his note WW refers to a work on the Pyrenees by Louis François Elisabeth Ramond de Carbonnières, Observations faites dans les Pyrénéesm oiyr servur de suite à des observations sur les Alpes, insérées dans une traduction des lettres de W. Coxe, sur la Suisse (Paris, 1789): “Let a wall of rocks be imagined from three to six hundred feet in height, and rising between France and Spain, so as physically to separate the two kingdoms—let us fancy this wall curved like a crescent with its convexity towards France. Lastly, let us suppose, that in the very middle of the wall a breach of 300 feet wide has been beaten down by the famous Roland, and we may have a good idea of what the mountaineers call the ‘Breche de Roland.’â•›”

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 431 Charms that call forth upon empyreal ground Immortal Fabrics—rising to the sound Of penetrating harps and voices sweet! Sonnet author’s voyage down the rhine (thirty years ago)

The confidence of Youth our only Art, And Hope gay Pilot of the bold design, We saw the living Landscapes of the Rhine, Reach after reach, salute us and depart; Slow sink the Spires,—and up again they start! But who shall count the Towers as they recline O’er the dark steeps, or on the horizon line Striding, with shattered crests, the eye athwart? More touching still, more perfect was the pleasure, When hurrying forward till the slack’ning stream Spread like a spacious Mere, we there could measure A smooth free course along the watery gleam, Think calmly on the past, and mark at leisure Features which else had vanished like a dream.

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Sonnet in a carriage, upon the banks of the rhine

Amid this dance of objects sadness steals O’er the defrauded heart—while sweeping by, As in a fit of Thespian jollity, Beneath her vine-leaf crown the green Earth reels: Backward, in rapid evanescence, wheels The venerable pageantry of Time, Each beetling rampart—and each tower sublime, And what the Dell unwillingly reveals Of lurking cloistral arch, through trees espied Near the bright River’s edge. Yet why repine? Pedestrian liberty shall yet be mine To muse, to creep, to halt at will, to gaze:

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â•… “â•›‘From St. Goar to Bingen—Castles commanding innumerable small fortified villages— nothing could exceed the delightful variety; but the postilions, who were intoxicated, whisked us far too fast through those beautiful scenes.’—Extract from Journal.” WW quotes from Mary Wordsworth’s entry for July 24, 1820, in her journal.

432â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Freedom which youth with copious hand supplied, May in fit measure bless my later days. Hymn for the boatmen, as they approach the rapids, under the castle of heidelberg

Jesu! bless our slender Boat, By the current swept along; Loud its threatenings—let them not Drown the music of a Song Breathed thy mercy to implore, Where these troubled waters roar! Lord and Saviour! who art seen Bleeding on that precious Rood; If, while through the meadows green Gently wound the peaceful flood, We forgot Thee, do not Thou Disregard thy Suppliants now! Hither, like yon ancient Tower Watching o’er the River’s bed, Fling the shadow of thy power, Else we sleep among the Dead; Traveller on the billowy Sea, Shield us in our jeopardy! Guide our Bark among the waves; Through the rocks our passage smooth; Where the whirlpool frets and raves Let thy love its anger soothe; All our hope is placed in Thee; Miserere Domine!

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  “See the beautiful Song in Mr. Coleridge’s Tragedy “The Remorse.” Why is the Harp of Quantock silent?” WW.     Coleridge, the “Harp of Quantock,” used this refrain (“Lord have mercy!”) in the song in III.i.68–61 of his play Remorse (1813).

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 433 Sonnet local recollection on the heights near hockheim

Abruptly paused the Strife;—the field throughout Resting upon his arms each Warrior stood, Checked in the very act and deed of blood, With breath suspended—like a listening Scout. O Silence! thou wert Mother of a shout That thro’ the texture of yon azure dome Clove its glad way—a cry of harvest home Uttered to Heaven in ecstasy devout! The barrier Rhine hath flashed, thro’ battle-smoke, On men who gazed heart-smitten by the view, As if all Germany had felt the shock. Fly, wretched Gauls! ere they the charge renew Who have seen (themselves delivered from the yoke) The unconquerable Stream his course pursue.

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Sonnet the source of the danube

Not (like his great compeers) indignantly Doth Danube spring to life! The wandering stream (Who loves the Cross, yet to the Crescent’s gleam Unfolds a willing breast) with infant glee Slips from his prison walls: and Fancy, free To follow in his track of silver light, Reaches, with one brief moment’s rapid flight, The vast Encincture of that gloomy sea Whose rough winds Orpheus soothed; whose waves did greet So skilfully that they forgot their jars— To waft the heroic progeny of Greece, When the first Ship sailed for the golden Fleece; Argo exalted by that daring feat To a conspicuous height among the stars!

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  “The event is thus recorded in the journals of the day: ‘When the Austrians took Hockheim, in one part of the engagement they got to the brow of the hill, whence they had their first view of the Rhine. They instantly halted—not a gun was fired—not a voice heard: but they stood gazing on the river with those feelings which the events of the last 15 years at once called up. Prince Schwartzenberg rode up to know the cause of this sudden stop, they then gave three cheers, rushed after the enemy, and drove them into the water.’â•›” WW   “Before this quarter of the Black Forest was inhabited, the source of the Danube might

434â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sonnet the jung-frau—and the rhine at shauffhausen

The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen A brilliant crown of everlasting snow, Sheds ruin from her sides; and men below Wonder that aught of aspect so serene Can link with desolation.—Smooth and green And seeming, at a little distance, slow The Waters of the Rhine; but on they go Fretting and whitening, keener and more keen Till madness seizes on the whole wide Flood Turned to a fearful Thing, whose nostrils breathe Blasts of tempestuous smoke, with which he tries To hide himself, but only magnifies: And doth in more conspicuous torment writhe, Deafening the region in his “ireful mood.”

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Memorial, near the outlet of the lake of thun

“dem andenken meines freundes aloys reding mdcccxviii.”

Around a wild and woody hill A gravelled path-way treading, We reached a votive Stone that bears The name of Aloys Reding. have suggested some of those sublime images which Armstrong has so finely described; at present the contrast is most striking. The Spring appears in a capacious stone Basin upon the front of a Ducal palace, with a pleasure-ground opposite; then, passing under the pavement, takes the form of a little, clear, bright, black, vigorous rill, barely wide enough to tempt the agility of a child five years old to leap over it,—and, entering the Garden, it joins, after a course of a few hundred yards, a Stream much more considerable than itself. The copiousness of the Spring at Doneschingen must have procured for it the honour of being named the Source of the Danube.” WW â•… “This Sonnet belongs to another publication, but from its fitness for this place is inserted here also. ‘Voilà un enfer d’eau,’ cried out a German Friend of Ramond, falling on his knees on the scaffold in front of this Waterfall. See Ramond’s Translation of Coxe.” WW refers to Ramond’s Lettres de M. William Coxe á M. W. Melmoth . . . (2 vols.; 3d ed., Paris, 1787), I, 16.   “Aloys Reding, it will be remembered, was Captain-General of the Swiss forces, which with

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 435 Well judged the Friend who placed it there For silence and protection, And haply with a finer care Of dutiful affection. The Sun regards it from the West, Sinking in summer glory; And, while he sinks, affords a type Of that pathetic story. And oft he tempts the patriot Swiss Amid the grove to linger; Till all is dim, save this bright Stone Touched by his golden finger.

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Sonnet on approaching the staub-bach, lauterbrunnen Tracks let me follow far from human-kind Which these illusive greetings may not reach; Where only Nature tunes her voice to teach Careless pursuits, and raptures unconfined. No Mermaid warbles (to allay the wind That drives some vessel tow’rds a dangerous beach) More thrilling melodies! no caverned Witch Chaunting a love-spell, ever intertwined Notes shrill and wild with art more musical! Alas! that from the lips of abject Want And Idleness in tatters mendicant They should proceed—enjoyment to enthral, And with regret and useless pity haunt This bold, this pure, this sky-born Waterfall!

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a courage and perseverance worthy of the cause, opposed the flagitious, and too successful, attempt of Buonaparte to subjugate their country.” WW   “â•›‘The Staub-bach’ is a narrow Stream, which, after a long course on the heights, comes to a sharp edge of a somewhat overhanging precipice, overleaps it with a bound, and, after a fall of 930 feet, forms again a rivulet. The vocal powers of these musical Beggars may seem to be exaggerated; but this wild and savage air was utterly unlike any sounds I had ever heard: the notes reached me from a distance, and on what occasion they were sung I could not guess, only they seemed to belong, in some way or other, to the Waterfall—and reminded me of religious services chaunted to Streams and Fountains in Pagan times.” WW

436â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sonnet the fall of the aar—handec

From the fierce aspect of this River throwing His giant body o’er the steep rock’s brink, Back in astonishment and fear we shrink: But, gradually a calmer look bestowing, Flowers we espy beside the torrent growing; Flowers that peep forth from many a cleft and chink, And, from the whirlwind of his anger, drink Hues ever fresh, in rocky fortress blowing: They suck, from breath that threatening to destroy Is more benignant than the dewy eve, Beauty, and life, and motions as of joy: Nor doubt but He to whom yon Pine-trees nod Their heads in sign of worship, Nature’s God, These humbler adorations will receive.

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Scene on the lake of brientz

“What know we of the Blest above But that they sing and that they love?” Yet, if they ever did inspire A mortal hymn, or shaped the choir, Now, where those harvest Damsels float Homeward in their rugged Boat, (While all the ruffling winds are fled, Each slumbering on some mountain’s head,) Now, surely, hath that gracious aid Been felt, that influence is displayed. Pupils of Heaven, in order stand The rustic Maidens, every hand Upon a Sister’s shoulder laid,— To chaunt, as glides the boat along, A simple, but a touching Song; To chaunt, as Angels do above, The melodies of Peace in Love!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 437 Engelbergâ•› For gentlest uses, oft-times Nature takes The work of Fancy from her willing hands; And even such beautiful creation makes As renders needless spells and magic wands, And for the boldest tale belief commands. When first my eyes beheld that famous Hill The sacred Engelberg, celestial Bands, With intermingling motions soft and still, Hung round its top, on wings that changed their hues at will. Clouds do not name those Visitants; they were The very Angels whose authentic lays, Sung from that heavenly ground in middle air, Made known the spot where Piety should raise A holy Structure to the Almighty’s praise. Resplendent Apparition! if in vain My ears did listen, ’twas enough to gaze; And watch the slow departure of the train, Whose skirts the glowing Mountain thirsted to detain!

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Our Lady of the Snow Meek Virgin Mother, more benign Than fairest Star upon the height Of thy own mountain set to keep Lone vigils thro’ the hours of sleep, What eye can look upon thy shrine Untroubled at the sight? These crowded Offerings as they hang In sign of misery relieved, Even these, without intent of theirs, Report of comfortless despairs, Of many a deep and cureless pang And confidence deceived.

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  “â•›‘Engelberg,’ the Hill of Angels, as the name implies. The Convent whose site was pointed out, according to tradition, in this manner, is seated at its base. The Architecture of the Building is unimpressive, but the situation is worthy of the honour which the imagination of the Mountaineers has conferred upon it.” WW   “Mount Righi.” WW

438â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To Thee, in this aërial cleft, As to a common centre, tend All sufferings that no longer rest On mortal succour, all distrest That pine of human hope bereft, Nor wish for earthly friend. And hence, O Virgin Mother mild! Tho’ plenteous flowers around thee blow, Not only from the dreary strife Of Winter, but the storms of life, Thee have thy Votaries aptly styled “Our Lady of the Snow.” Even for the Man who stops not here, But down the irriguous valley hies, Thy very name, O Lady! flings, O’er blooming fields and gushing springs, A holy Shadow soft and dear Of chastening sympathies! Nor falls that intermingling shade To Summer gladsomeness unkind, It chastens only to requite With gleams of fresher, purer, light; While, o’er the flower-enamelled glade, More sweetly breathes the wind. But on!—a tempting downward way, A verdant path before us lies; Clear shines the glorious sun above; Then give free course to joy and love, Deeming the evil of the day Sufficient for the wise. Sonnet the town of schwytz

By antique Fancy trimmed—tho’ lowly, bred To dignity—in thee O Schwytz! are seen The genuine features of the golden mean;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 439 Equality by Prudence governed, Or jealous Nature ruling in her stead; And, therefore, art thou blest with peace, serene As that of the sweet fields and meadows green In unambitious compass round thee spread! Majestic Berne, high on her guardian steep, Holding a central station of command, Might well by styled this noble Body’s Head; Thou, lodg’d ’mid mountainous entrenchments deep, Its Heart; and ever may the heroic Land Thy name, O Schwytz, in happy freedom keep!

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Sonnet on hearing the “ranz des vaches” on the top of the pass of st. gothard

I listen—but no faculty of mine Avails those modulations to detect, Which, heard in foreign lands, the Swiss affect With tenderest passion; leaving him to pine (So fame reports) and die; his sweet-breath’d kine Remembering, and green Alpine pastures deck’d With vernal flowers. Yet may we not reject The tale as fabulous.—Here while I recline Mindful how others love this simple Strain, Even here, upon this glorious Mountain (named Of God himself from dread pre-eminence) Aspiring thoughts by memory are reclaimed; And, thro’ the Music’s touching influence, The joys of distant home my heart enchain.

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The Church of San Salvador, seen from the Lake of Luganoâ•› Thou sacred Pile! whose turrets rise, From yon steep Mountain’s loftiest stage, Guarded by lone San Salvador;   “â•›‘Nearly 500 years (says Ebel, speaking of the French Invasion,) had elapsed, when, for the first time, foreign Soldiers were seen upon the frontiers of this small Canton, to impose upon it the laws of their Governors.’â•›” WW cites Johann Gottfried Ebel, The Traveller’s Guide through Switzerland (London, 1820)   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

440â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sink (if thou must) as heretofore, To sulphurous bolts a sacrifice, But ne’er to human rage! On Horeb’s top, on Sinai, deigned To rest the universal Lord: Why leap the fountains from their cells Where everlasting Bounty dwells? That, while the Creature is sustained, His God may be adored. Cliffs, fountains, rivers, seasons, times, Let all remind the soul of heaven; Our slack devotion needs them all; And Faith, so oft of sense the thrall, While she, by aid of Nature, climbs, May hope to be forgiven. I love, where spreads the village lawn, Upon some knee-worn Cell to gaze; Hail to the firm unmoving Cross, Aloft, where pines their branches toss! And to the Chapel far withdrawn, That lurks by lonely ways! Short-sighted Children of the dust We live and move in sorrow’s power; Extinguish that unblest disdain That scorns the altar, mocks the fane, Where patient Sufferers bend—in trust To win a happier hour. Glory, and patriotic Love, And all the Pomps of this frail “spot Which men call Earth,” have yearned to seek, Associate with the simply meek, Religion in the sainted grove, And in the hallowed grot. Thither, in time of adverse shocks, Of fainting hopes and backward wills, Did mighty Tell repair of old—

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 441 A Hero cast in Nature’s mould, Deliverer of the steadfast rocks And of the ancient hills! He, too, of battle-martyrs chief! Who, to recal his daunted peers, For victory shaped an open space, By gathering with a wide embrace, Into his single heart, a sheaf Of fatal Austrian spears. Ye Alps, in many a rugged link Far-stretched, and Thou, majestic Po, Dimly from yon tall Mount descried, Where’er I wander be my Guide, Sweet Charity!—that bids us think, And feel, if we would know!

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Fort Fuentes—at the Head of the Lake of Como Dread hour! when upheaved by war’s sulphurous blast, This sweet-visaged Cherub of Parian stone So far from the holy enclosure was cast, To couch in this thicket of brambles alone; To rest where the lizard may bask in the palm Of his half-open hand pure from blemish or speck; And the green, gilded snake, without troubling the calm Of the beautiful countenance, twine round his neck. Where haply (kind service to Piety due!) When winter the grove of its mantle bereaves, Some Bird (like our own honoured Redbreast) may strew The desolate Slumberer with moss and with leaves. Fuentes once harboured the Good and the Brave, Nor to her was the dance of soft pleasure unknown; Her banners for festal enjoyment did wave While the thrill of her fifes thro’ the mountains was blown:

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Now gads the wild vine o’er the pathless Ascent—   “ Arnold WInkelried, at the battle of Sempach, broke an Austrian phalanx in this manner. The event is one of the most famous in the annals of Swiss heroism; and pictures and prints of it are frequent throughout the country.” WW

442â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth O silence of Nature, how deep is thy sway When the whirlwind of human destruction is spent, Our tumults appeased, and our strifes passed away!—

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The Italian Itinerant, and the Swiss Goatherd Part I 1 Now that the farewell tear is dried, Heaven prosper thee, be hope thy guide! Hope be thy guide, adventurous Boy; The wages of thy travel, joy! Whether for London bound—to trill Thy mountain notes with simple skill; Or on thy head to poise a show Of plaster-craft in seemly row; The graceful form of milk-white steed, Or Bird that soared with Ganymede; Or thro’ our hamlets thou wilt bear The sightless Milton, with his hair Around his placid temples curled; And Shakespear at his side—a freight, If clay could think and mind were weight, For him who bore the world! Hope be thy guide, adventurous Boy; The wages of thy travel, joy!

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2 But thou, perhaps, (alert and free Tho’ serving sage philosophy) Wilt ramble over hill and dale, A Vender of the well-wrought Scale Whose sentient tube instructs to time A purpose to a fickle clime: Whether thou chuse this useful part, Or minister to finer art, Tho’ robbed of many a cherish’d dream, And crossed by many a shatter’d scheme, What stirring wonders wilt thou see

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 443 In the proud Isle of liberty! Yet will the Wanderer sometimes pine With thoughts which no delights can chase, Recal a Sister’s last embrace, His Mother’s neck entwine; Nor shall forget the Maiden coy That would have lov’d the bright-hair’d Boy!

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3 My Song, encouraged by the grace That beams from his ingenuous face, For this Adventurer scruples not To prophesy a golden lot; Due recompence, and safe return To Como’s steeps—his happy bourne! Where he, aloft in Garden glade, Shall tend, with his own dark-eyed Maid, The towering maize, and prop the twig That ill supports the luscious fig; Or feed his eye in paths sun-proof With purple of the trellis-roof, That thro’ the jealous leaves escapes From Cadenabbia’s pendant grapes. —Oh might he tempt that Goatherd-child To share his wanderings! he whose look Even yet my heart can scarcely brook, So touchingly he smiled, As with a rapture caught from heaven, When Pity’s unasked alms were given.

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Part II 1 With nodding plumes, and lightly drest Like Foresters in leaf-green vest, The Helvetian Mountaineers, on ground For Tell’s dread archery renowned, Before the Target stood—to claim The guerdon of the steadiest aim. Loud was the rifle-gun’s report,

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444â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A startling thunder quick and short! But, flying thro’ the heights around, Echo prolonged a tell-tale sound Of hearts and hands alike “prepared The treasures they enjoy to guard!” And, if there be a favoured hour When Heroes are allowed to quit The Tomb, and on the clouds to sit With tutelary power, On their Descendants shedding grace, This was the hour, and that the place.

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2 But Truth inspired the Bards of old When of an iron age they told, Which to unequal laws gave birth, That drove Astræa from the earth. —A gentle Boy—(perchance with blood As noble as the best endued, But seemingly a Thing despised; Even by the sun and air unprized; For not a tinge or flowery streak Appeared upon his tender cheek,) Heart-deaf to those rebounding notes Of pleasure, by his silent Goats— Sate far apart in forest shed, Pale, ragged, bare his feet and head, Mute as the snow upon the hill, And, as the Saint he prays to, still. Ah, what avails heroic deed? What liberty? if no defence Be won for feeble Innocence— Father of All! if willful Man must read His punishment in soul-distress, Grant to the morn of life its natural blessedness!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 445 Sonnet the last supper, by leonardo da vinci, in the refectory of the convent of maria della grazia—milan

Tho’ searching damps and many an envious flaw Have marr’d this Work, the calm etherial grace, The love deep-seated in the Saviour’s face, The mercy, goodness, have not failed to awe The Elements; as they do melt and thaw The heart of the Beholder—and erase (At least for one rapt moment) every trace Of disobedience to the primal law. The annunciation of the dreadful truth Made to the Twelve, survives; the brow, the cheek, And hand reposing on the board in ruth Of what it utters, while the unguilty seek Unquestionable meanings, still bespeak A labour worthy of eternal youth!

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The Eclipse of the Sun, 1820 High on her speculative Tower Stood Science waiting for the Hour When Sol was destined to endure That darkening of his radiant face Which Superstition strove to chase, Erewhile, with rites impure. Afloat beneath Italian skies, Thro’ regions fair as Paradise We gaily passed,—till Nature wrought A silent and unlooked-for change, That checked the desultory range Of joy and sprightly thought.

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  “This picture of the Last Supper has not only been grievously injured by time, but parts are said to have been painted over again. These niceties may be left to connoisseurs,—I speak of it as I felt. The copy exhibited in London some years ago, and the engraving by Morghen, are both admirable; but in the original is a power which neither of those works has attained, or even approached.” WW   “â•›‘The hand / Sang with the voice, and this the argument.’ Milton.” WW quotes from Paradise Regain’d, I, ll. 171, 172.

446â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where’er was dipped the toiling oar The waves danced round us as before, As lightly, tho’ of altered hue; ’Mid recent coolness, such as falls At noon-tide from umbrageous walls That screen the morning dew. No vapour stretched its wings; no cloud Cast far or near a murky shroud; The sky an azure field displayed; ’Twas sun-light sheathed and gently charmed, Of all its sparkling rays disarmed, And as in slumber laid:— Or something night and day between, Like moon-shine—but the hue was green; Still moon-shine, without shadow, spread On jutting rock, and curved shore, Where gazed the Peasant from his door, And on the mountain’s head. It tinged the Julian steeps—it lay Upon Lugano’s ample bay; The solemnizing veil was drawn O’er Villas, Terraces, and Towers, To Albogasio’s olive bowers, Porlezza’s verdant lawn. But Fancy, with the speed of fire, Hath fled to Milan’s loftiest spire, And there alights ’mid that aërial host Of figures human and divine, White as the snows of Apennine Indùrated by frost. Awe-stricken she beholds the array That guards the Temple night and day; Angels she sees that might from heaven have flown; And Virgin Saints—who not in vain Have striven by purity to gain   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 447 The beatific crown; Far-stretching files, concentric rings Each narrowing above each;—the wings— The uplifted palms, the silent marble lips, The starry zone of sovereign height, All steeped in this portentous light! All suffering dim eclipse! Thus after Man had fallen, (if aught These perishable spheres have wrought May with that issue be compared) Throngs of celestial visages, Darkening like water in the breeze, A holy sadness shared. See! while I speak, the labouring Sun His glad deliverance has begun: The cypress waves its sombre plume More cheerily; and Town and Tower, The Vineyard and the Olive bower, Their lustre re-assume! Oh ye, who guard and grace my Home While in far-distant Lands we roam, Enquiring thoughts are turned to you; Does a clear ether meet your eyes? Or have black vapours hid the skies And mountains from your view? I ask in vain—and know far less If sickness, sorrow, or distress Have spared my Dwelling to this hour: Sad blindness! but ordained to prove Our Faith in Heaven’s unfailing love And all-controlling Power. The Three Cottage Girls 1 How blest the Maid whose heart—yet free

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448â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth From Love’s uneasy sovereignty, Beats with a fancy running high Her simple cares to magnify; Whom Labour, never urged to toil, Hath cherished on a healthful soil; Who knows not pomp, who heeds not pelf; Whose heaviest sin it is to look Askance upon her pretty Self Reflected in some crystal brook; Whom grief hath spared—who sheds no tear But in sweet pity; and can hear Another’s praise from envy clear.

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2 Such, (but O lavish Nature! why That dark unfathomable eye, Where lurks a Spirit that replies To stillest mood of softest skies, Yet hints at peace to be o’erthrown, Another’s—first, and then her own?) Such, haply, yon Italian Maid, Our Lady’s laggard Votaress, Halting beneath the chesnut shade To accomplish there her loveliness: Nice aid maternal fingers lend; A Sister serves with slacker hand; Then, glittering like a star, she joins the festal band.

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3 How blest (if truth may entertain Coy fancy with a bolder strain) The Helvetian Girl—who daily braves, In her light skiff, the tossing waves, And quits the bosom of the deep Only to climb the rugged steep! —Say whence that modulated shout? From Wood-nymph of Diana’s throng? Or does the greeting to a rout Of giddy Bacchanals belong? Jubilant outcry!—rock and glade

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 449 Resounded—but the voice obeyed The breath of an Helvetian Maid. 4 Her beauty dazzles the thick wood; Her courage animates the flood; Her step the elastic green-sward meets Returning unreluctant sweets; The mountains (as ye heard) rejoice Aloud, saluted by her voice! Blithe Paragon of Alpine grace, Be as thou art—for through thy veins The Blood of Heroes runs its race! And nobly wilt thou brook the chains That, for the virtuous, Life prepares; The fetters which the Matron wears; The Patriot Mother’s weight of anxious cares!

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5 “Sweet Highland Girl! a very shower Of beauty was thy earthly dower,” When Thou didst pass before my eyes, Gay Vision under sullen skies, While Hope and Love around thee played Near the rough Falls of Inversneyd! Time cannot thin thy flowing hair, Nor take one ray of light from Thee; For in my Fancy thou dost share The gift of Immortality; And there shall bloom, with Thee allied, The Votaress by Lugano’s side; And that intrepid Nymph, on Uri’s steep, descried!

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Sonnet the column intended by buonaparte for a triumphal edifice in milan, now lying by the way-side on the semplon pass

Ambition, following down this far-famed slope   WW’s note cites his earlier poem To a Highland Girl, from which these two lines are quoted (see vol. 1 of this edition).

450â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Her Pioneer, the snow-dissolving Sun, While clarions prate of Kingdoms to be won, Perchance, in future ages, here may stop; Taught to mistrust her flattering horoscope By admonition from this prostrate Stone; Memento uninscribed of Pride o’erthrown, Vanity’s hieroglyphic;—a choice trope In fortune’s rhetoric. Daughter of the Rock, Rest where thy course was stayed by Power Divine! The Soul transported sees, from hint of thine, Crimes which the great Avenger’s hand provoke, Hears combats whistling o’er the ensanguin’d heath: What groans! what shrieks! what quietness in death!

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Stanzas composed in the semplon pass

Vallombrosa! I longed in thy shadiest wood To slumber, reclined on the moss-covered floor, To listen to Anio’s precipitous flood, When the stillness of evening hath softened its roar; To range thro’ the Temples of Pæstum, to muse In Pompeii, preserved by her burial in earth, On pictures to gaze, where they drank in their hues; And murmur sweet Songs on the ground of their birth! The beauty of Florence, the grandeur of Rome, Could I leave them unseen and not yield to regret? With a hope (and no more) for a season to come, Which ne’er may discharge the magnificent debt? Thou fortunate Region! whose Greatness inurned, Awoke to new life from its ashes and dust; Twice-glorified field! if in sadness I turned From your infinite marvels, the sadness was just. Now, risen ere the light-footed Chamois retires From dew-sprinkled grass to heights guarded with snow, Tow’rd the mists that hang over the land of my Sires, From the climate of myrtles contented I go. My thoughts become bright, like yon edging of Pine,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 451 Black fringe to a precipice lofty and bare, Which, as from behind the Sun strikes it, doth shine, With threads that seem part of his own silver hair. Tho’ the burthen of toil with dear friends we divide, Tho’ by the same zephyr our temples are fann’d, As we rest in the cool orange-bower side by side, A yearning survives which few hearts shall withstand: Each step hath its value while homeward we move;— O joy when the girdle of England appears! What moment in life is so conscious of love, So rich in the tenderest sweetness of tears?

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Sonnet echo, upon the gemmi

What Beast of Chase hath broken from the cover? Stern Gemmi listens to as full a cry, As multitudinous a harmony, As e’er did ring the heights of Latmos over, When, from the soft couch of her sleeping Lover, Up-starting, Cynthia skimmed the mountain-dew In keen pursuit—and gave, where’er she flew, Impetuous motion to the Stars above her. A solitary Wolf-dog, ranging on Thro’ the bleak concave, wakes this wondrous chime Of aëry voices locked in unison,— Faints—far off—near—deep—solemn and sublime! So, from the body of a single deed, A thousand ghostly fears, and haunting thoughts, proceed!

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Processions suggested on a sabbath morning in the vale of chamouny

To appease the Gods; or public thanks to yield; Or to solicit knowledge of events, Which in her breast futurity concealed; And that the past might have its true intents Feelingly told by living monuments; Mankind of yore were prompted to devise

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452â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Rites such as yet Persepolis presents Graven on her cankered walls,—solemnities That moved in long array before admiring eyes. The Hebrews, thus, carrying in joyful state Thick boughs of palm, and willows from the brook, Marched around the Altar—to commemorate How, when their course they thro’ the desart took, Guided by signs which ne’er the sky forsook, They lodged in leafy tents and cabins low; Green boughs were borne, while for the blast that shook Down to the earth the walls of Jericho, They uttered loud hosannas,—let the trumpets blow! And thus, in order, ’mid the sacred Grove Fed in the Libyan Waste by gushing wells, The Priests and Damsels of Ammonian Jove Provoked responses with shrill canticles; While, in a Ship begirt with silver bells, They round his altar bore the horned God, Old Cham, the solar Deity, who dwells Aloft, yet in a tilting Vessel rode, When universal sea the mountains overflowed. Why speak of Roman Pomps? the haughty claims Of Chiefs triumphant after ruthless wars; The feast of Neptune—and the Cereal Games, With Images, and Crowns, and empty Cars; The dancing Salii—on the shields of Mars Striking with fury; and the deeper dread Scattered on all sides by the hideous jars Of Corybantian cymbals, while the head Of Cybele was seen, sublimely turreted! At length a Spirit more subdued and soft Appeared, to govern Christian pageantries: The Cross, in calm procession, borne aloft Moved to the chaunt of sober litanies. Even such, this day, came wafted on the breeze From a long train—in hooded vestments fair Enwrapt—and winding, between Alpine trees

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 453 Spiry and dark, around their House of Prayer Below the icy bed of bright Argentière. But O the fairest pageant of a dream Did never equal that which met our eyes! The glacier Pillars with the living Stream Of white-robed Shapes, seemed linked in solemn guise, For the same service, by mysterious ties; Numbers exceeding credible account Of number, stood like spotless Votaries Prepared to issue from a wintry fount; The impenetrable heart of that exalted Mount! They, too, who sent so far a holy gleam While they the Church engirt with motion slow, A product of that awful Mount did seem, Poured from his vaults of everlasting snow; Not virgin-lilies marshalled in bright row, Not swans descending with the stealthy tide, A livelier sisterly resemblance show Than the fair Forms, that on the turf did glide, To that unmoving band—the Shapes aloft descried! Trembling, I look upon the secret springs Of that licentious craving in the mind To act the God among external things, To bind, on apt suggestion, and unbind; And marvel not that antique Faith inclined To crowd the world with metamorphosis, Vouchsafed in pity or in wrath assigned: Such insolent temptations wouldst thou miss, Avoid these sights; nor brood o’er Fable’s dark abyss!

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  “This Procession is a part of the sacramental service performed once a month. In the Valley of Engelberg we had the good fortune to be present at the Grand Festival of the Virgin—but the Procession on that day, though consisting of upwards of 1000 Persons, assembled from all the branches of the sequestered Valley, was much less striking (norwithstanding the sublimity of the surrounding scenery): it wanted both the simplicity of the other and the accompaniment of the Glacier-columns, whose sisterly resemblance to the moving Figures gave it a most beautiful and solemn peculiarity.” WW

454â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Elegiac Stanzas On arriving at Lausanne, we heard of the fate of the young American, whose death is here lamented. He had been our companion for three days; and we separated upon Mount Righi with mutual hope of meeting again in the course of our Tour. Goldau, mentioned towards the conclusion of this Piece, is a Village at the foot of Mount Righi, one of those overwhelmed by a mass which fell from the side of the mountain Rossberg, a few years ago.

Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells, Rude Nature’s Pilgrims did we go, From the dread summit of the Queen Of Mountains, through a deep ravine, Where, in her holy Chapel, dwells “Our Lady of the Snow.” The sky was blue, the aid was mild; Free were the streams and green the bowers; As if, to rough assaults unknown, The genial spot had ever shown A countenance that sweetly smiled, The face of summer-hours. And we were gay, our hearts at ease, With pleasure dancing through the frame; All that we knew of lively care, Our path that straggled here and there, Of trouble—but the fluttering breeze, Of Winter—but a name. —If foresight could have rent the veil Of three short days—but hush—no more! Calm is the grave, and calmer none Than that to which thy cares are gone, Thou Victim of the stormy gale, Asleep on Zurich’s shore! Oh Goddard! what art thou?—a name— A sunbeam followed by a shade! Nor more, for aught that time supplies, The great, the experienced, and the wise; Too much from this frail earth we claim, And therefore are betrayed.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 455 We met, while festive mirth ran wild, Where, from a deep Lake’s mighty urn, Forth slips, like an enfranchised Slave, A sea-green River, proud to lave, With current swift and undefiled, The Towers of old Lucerne. We parted upon solemn ground Far-lifted tow’rds the unfading sky; But all our thoughts were then of Earth That gives to common pleasures birth; And nothing in our hearts we found That prompted even a sigh. Fetch, sympathizing Powers of air, Fetch, ye that post o’er seas and lands, Herbs moistened by Virginian dew, A most untimely sod to strew, That lacks the ornamental care Of kindred human hands! Beloved by every gentle Muse He left his Trans-atlantic home: Europe, a realized romance, Had opened on his eager glance; What present bliss!—what golden views! What stores for years to come! Though lodged within no vigorous frame, His soul her daily tasks renewed, Blithe as the lark on sun-gilt wings High poised—or as the wren that sings In shady places, to proclaim Her modest gratitude. Not vain is sadly-uttered praise; The words of truth’s memorial vow Are sweet as morning fragrance shed From flowers ’mid Goldau’s ruins bred; Sweet as Eve’s fondly-lingering rays, On Righi’s silent brow.

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456â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And, when thy Mother weeps for Thee, Lost Youth! a solitary Mother; This tribute from a casual Friend A not unwelcome aid may lend, To feed the tender luxury, The rising pang to smother.

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Sonnet sky-prospect—from the plain of france

Lo! in the burning West, the craggy nape Of a proud Ararat! and, thereupon, The Ark, her melancholy voyage done! Yon rampant Cloud mimics a Lion’s shape; There, combats a huge Crocodile—agape A golden spear to swallow! and that brown And massy Grove, so near yon blazing Town, Stirs—and recedes—destruction to escape! Yet all is harmless as the Elysian shades Where Spirits dwell in undisturb’d repose, Silently disappears, or quickly fades;— Meek Nature’s evening comment on the shows That for oblivion take their daily birth, From all the fuming vanities of Earth!

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Sonnet on being stranded near the harbour of boulogne

Why cast ye back upon the Gallic shore, Ye furious waves! a patriotic Son Of England—who in hope her coast had won, His project crowned, his pleasant travel o’er? Well—let him pace this noted beach once more, That gave the Roman his triumphal shells; That saw the Corsican his cap and bells Haughtily shake—a dreaming Conqueror! Enough; my Country’s Cliffs I can behold, And proudly think, beside the murmuring sea, Of checked Ambition—Tyranny controuled, And Folly cursed with endless memory:

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 457 These local recollections ne’er can cloy; Such ground I from my very heart enjoy! Sonnet after landing—the valley of dover Nov. 1820 Where be the noisy followers of the game Which Faction breeds? the turmoil where? that past Thro’ Europe, echoing from the Newsman’s blast, And filled our hearts with grief for England’s shame. Peace greets us;—rambling on without an aim We mark majestic herds of Cattle free To ruminate—couched on the grassy lea, And hear far-off the mellow horn proclaim The Season’s harmless pastime. Ruder sound Stirs not; enwrapt I gaze—with strange delight, While consciousnesses, not to be disowned, Here only serve a feeling to invite That lifts the Spirit to a calmer height, And makes the rural stillness more profound.

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To Enterprizeâ•› Keep for the Young the empassioned smile Shed from thy countenance, as I see thee stand High on a chalky cliff of Britain’s Isle, A slender Volume grasping in thy hand— (Perchance the pages that relate The various turns of Crusoe’s fate) Ah, spare the exulting smile, And drop thy pointing finger bright As the first flash of beacon-light; But neither veil thy head in shadows dim, Nor turn thy face away From One who, in the evening of his day, To thee would offer no presumptuous hymn!

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  “This is a most grateful sight for an Englishman returning to his native land. Every where one misses, in the cultivated scenery abroad, the animating and soothing accompaniment of animals ranging and selecting their own food at will.” WW   “â•›‘The Italian Itinerant,’ &c. . . . led to the train of thought which produced the annexed piece.” WW refers to The Italian Itinerant, and the Swiss Goatherd, above.

458â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth i

Bold Spirit! who art free to rove Among the starry courts of Jove, And oft in splendour dost appear Embodied to poetic eyes, While traversing this nether sphere, Where Mortals call thee Enterprize. Daughter of Hope! her favourite Child, Whom she to young Ambition bore, When Hunter’s arrow first defiled The Grove, and stained the turf with gore; Thee winged Fancy took, and nursed On broad Euphrates’ palmy shore, Or where the mightier Waters burst From Caves of Indian mountains hoar! She wrapp’d thee in a Panther’s skin; And thou (if rightly I rehearse What wondering Shepherds told in verse) From rocky fortress in mid air (The food which pleased thee best to win) Didst oft the flame-eyed Eagle scare With infant shout,—as often sweep, Paired with the Ostrich, o’er the plain; And, tired with sport, wouldst sink asleep Upon the couchant Lion’s mane! With rolling years thy strength increased; And, far beyond thy native East, To thee, by varying titles known, As variously thy power was shown, Did incense-bearing Altars rise, Which caught the blaze of sacrifice, From Suppliants panting for the skies!

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What though this ancient Earth be trod No more by step of Demi-god, Mounting from glorious deed to deed As thou from clime to clime didst lead, Yet still, the bosom beating high,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 459 And the hushed farewell of an eye Where no procrastinating gaze A last infirmity betrays, Prove that thy heaven-descended sway Shall ne’er submit to cold decay. By thy divinity impelled, The Stripling seeks the tented field; The aspiring Virgin kneels; and, pale With awe, receives the hallowed veil, A soft and tender Heroine Vowed to severer discipline; Enflamed by thee, the blooming Boy Makes of the whistling shrouds a toy, And of the Ocean’s dismal breast A play-ground and a couch of rest; Thou to his dangers dost enchain, ’Mid the blank world of snow and ice, The Chamois-chaser—awed in vain By chasm or dizzy precipice; And hast Thou not with triumph seen How soaring Mortals glide serene From cloud to cloud, and brave the light With bolder than Icarian flight? Or, in their bells of crystal, dive Where winds and waters cease to strive, For no unholy visitings, Among the monsters of the Deep, And all the sad and precious things Which there in ghastly silence sleep? —Within our fearless reach are placed The secrets of the burning Waste,— Egyptian Tombs unlock their Dead, Nile trembles at his fountain head; Thou speak’st—and lo! the polar Seas Unbosom their last mysteries. —But oh! what transports, what sublime reward, Won from the world of mind, dost thou prepare For philosophic Sage—or high-souled Bard Who, for thy service trained in lonely woods,

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460â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Hath fed on pageants floating thro’ the air, Or calentured in depth of limpid floods; Nor grieves—tho’ doomed, thro’ silent night, to bear The domination of his glorious themes, Or struggle in the net-work of thy dreams!

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Dread Minister of wrath! Who to their destined punishment dost urge The Pharaohs of the earth, the men of hardened heart! Not unassisted by the flattering stars, Thou strew’st temptation o’er the path When they in pomp depart, With trampling horses and refulgent cars— Soon to be swallowed by the briny surge; Or cast, for lingering death, on unknown strands; Or stifled under weight of desart sands— An Army now, and now a living hill Heaving with convulsive throes,— It quivers—and is still; Or to forget their madness and their woes, Wrapt in a winding-sheet of spotless snows!

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Back flows the willing current of my Song: If to provoke such doom the Impious dare, Why should it daunt a blameless prayer? —Bold Goddess! range our Youth among; Nor let thy genuine impulse fail to beat In hearts no longer young; Still may a veteran Few have pride In thoughts whose sternness makes them sweet; In fixed resolves by reason justified; That to their object cleave like sleet Whitening a pine-tree’s northern side, While fields are naked far and wide.   å°“ “â•›‘While the living hill Heaved with convulsive throes and all was still.’— Dr. Darwin, describing the destruction of the army of Cambyses.” WW

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 461 v

But, if such homage thou disdain As doth with mellowing years agree, One rarely absent from thy Train More humble favours may obtain For thy contented Votary. She, who incites the frolic lambs In presence of their heedless dams, And to the solitary fawn Vouchsafes her lessons—bounteous Nymph That wakes the breeze—the sparkling lymph Doth hurry to the lawn; She, who inspires that strain of joyance holy Which the sweet Bird, misnamed the melancholy, Pours forth in shady groves, shall plead for me; And vernal mornings opening bright With views of undefined delight, And cheerful songs, and suns that shine On busy days, with thankful nights, be mine.

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But thou, O Goddess! in thy favourite Isle (Freedom’s impregnable redoubt, The wide Earth’s store-house fenced about With breakers roaring to the gales That stretch a thousand thousand sails) Quicken the Slothful, and exalt the Vile! Thy impulse is the life of Fame; Glad Hope would almost cease to be If torn from thy society; And Love, when worthiest of the name, Is proud to walk the Earth with thee!

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462â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth [Poems not included in series as first published] Desultory Stanzas upon receiving the preceding sheets from the press i

Is then the final page before me spread, Nor further outlet left to mind or heart? Presumptuous Book! too forward to be read— How can I give thee licence to depart? One tribute more;—unbidden feelings start Forth from their coverts—slighted objects rise— My Spirit is the scene of such wild art As on Parnassus rules, when lightning flies, Visibly leading on the thunder’s harmonies.

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All that I saw returns upon my view, All that I heard comes back upon my ear, All that I felt this moment doth renew; And where the foot with no unmanly fear Recoil’d—and wings alone could travel—there I move at ease, and meet contending themes That press upon me, crossing the career Of recollections vivid as the dreams Of midnight,—cities—plains—forests—and mighty streams!

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Where mortal never breathed I dare to sit Among the interior Alps, gigantic crew, Who triumphed o’er diluvian power!—and yet What are they but a wreck and residue, Whose only business is to perish?—true To which sad course, these wrinkled Sons of Time Labour their proper greatness to subdue; Speaking of death alone, beneath a clime Where life and rapture flow in plenitude sublime. iv

Fancy hath flung for me an airy bridge

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 463 Across thy long deep Valley, furious Rhone! Arch that here rests upon the granite ridge Of Monte Rosa—there, on frailer stone Of secondary birth—the Jung-frau’s cone; And, from that arch down-looking on the Vale, The aspect I behold of every zone; A sea of foliage tossing with the gale, Blithe Autumn’s purple crown, and Winter’s icy mail!

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Far as St. Maurice, from yon eastern Forks, Down the main avenue my sight can range: And all its branchy vales, and all that lurks Within them, church, and town, and hut, and grange, For my enjoyment meet in vision strange; Snows—torrents;—to the region’s utmost bound, Life, Death, in amicable interchange— But list! the avalanche—heart-striking sound! Tumult by prompt repose and awful silence crown’d!

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Is not the Chamois suited to his place? The Eagle worthy of her ancestry? —Let Empires fall; but ne’er shall Ye disgrace Your noble birthright, Ye that occupy Your Council-seats beneath the open sky, On Sarnen’s Mount, there judge of fit and right, In simple democratic majesty; Soft breezes fanning your rough brows—the might And purity of nature spread before your sight!

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  “Les Fourches, the point at which the two chains of mountains part, that enclose the Valais, which terminates at St. Maurice.” WW   “Sarnen, one of the two Capitals of the Canton of Underwalden; the spot here alluded to is close to the town, and is called the Landenberg, from the Tyrant of that name, whose chateau formerly stood there. On the 1st of Jan. 1308, the great day which the confederated Heroes had chosen for the deliverance of their Country, all the Castles of the Governors were taken by force or stratagem; and the Tyrants themselves conducted, with their Creatures, to the frontiers, after having witnessed the destruction of their Strong-holds. From that time the Landenberg has been the place where the Legislators of this division of the Canton assemble. The scite, which is well described by Ebel, is one of the most beautiful in Switzerland.” WW

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From this appropriate Court, renown’d Lucerne Leads me to pace her honoured Bridge—that cheers The Patriot’s heart with Pictures rude and stern, An uncouth Chronicle of glorious years. Like portraiture, from loftier source, endears That work of kindred frame, which spans the Lake Just at the point of issue, where it fears The form and motion of a Stream to take; Where it begins to stir, yet voiceless as a Snake.

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Volumes of sound, from the Cathedral roll’d, This long-roofed Vista penetrate—but see, One after one, its Tablets, that unfold The whole design of Scripture history; From the first tasting of the fatal Tree, Till the bright Star appeared in eastern skies, Announcing One was born Mankind to free; His acts, his wrongs, his final sacrifice; Lessons for every heart, a Bible for all eyes.

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Our pride misleads, our timid likings kill. —Long may these homely Works devised of old, These simple Efforts of Helvetian skill, Aid, with congenial influence, to uphold The State,—the Country’s destiny to mould; Turning, for them who pass, the common dust Of servile opportunity to gold; Filling the soul with sentiments august— The beautiful, the brave, the holy, and the just!

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And those surrounding Mountains—but no more; Time creepeth softly as the liquid flood; Life slips from underneath us, like the floor Of that wide rainbow-arch whereon we stood,   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 465 Earth stretched below, Heaven in our neighbourhood. Go forth, my little Book! pursue thy way; Go forth, and please the gentle and the good; Nor be a whisper stifled, if it say That treasures, yet untouched, may grace some future Lay.

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Effusion in presence of the painted tower of tell, at altorf

This Tower is said to stand upon the spot where grew the Linden Tree against which his Son was placed, when the Father’s archery was put to proof under circumstances so famous in Swiss History.

What though the Italian pencil wrought not here, Nor such fine skill as did the meed bestow On Marathonian valour, yet the tear Springs forth in presence of this gaudy show, While narrow cares their limits overflow. Thrice happy, Burghers, Peasants, Warriors old, Infants in arms, and Ye, that as ye go Home-ward or School-ward, ape what ye behold; Heroes before your time, in frolic fancy bold! But when that calm Spectatress from on high Looks down—the bright and solitary Moon, Who never gazes but to beautify; And snow-fed torrents, which the blaze of noon Roused into fury, murmur a soft tune That fosters peace, and gentleness recals; Then might the passing Monk receive a boon Of saintly pleasure from these pictured walls, While, on the warlike groups, the mellowing lustre falls. How blest the souls who when their trials come Yield not to terror or despondency, But face like that sweet Boy their mortal doom, Whose head the ruddy Apple tops, while he Expectant stands beneath the linden tree, Not quaking like the timid forest game; He smiles—the hesitating shaft to free,

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466â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Assured that Heaven its justice will proclaim, And to his Father give its own unerring aim. Composed in one of the Catholic Cantons of Switzerland Doomed as we are our native dust To wet with many a bitter shower, It ill befits us to disdain The Altar, to deride the Fane, Where patient Sufferers bend, in trust To win a happier hour. I love, where spreads the village lawn, Upon some knee-worn Cell to gaze; Hail to the firm unmoving Cross, Aloft, where pines their branches toss! And to the Chapel far withdrawn, That lurks by lonely ways! Where’er we roam—along the brink Of Rhine—or by the sweeping Po, Through Alpine vale, or champain wide, Whate’er we look on, at our side Be Charity!—to bid us think, And feel, if we would know.

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After-thought Oh Life! without thy chequered scene Of right and wrong, of weal and woe, Success and failure, could a ground For magnanimity be found; For faith, ’mid ruined hopes, serene? Or whence could virtue flow? Pain entered through a ghastly breach— Nor while sin lasts must effort cease; Heaven upon earth’s an empty boast; But, for the bowers of Eden lost, Mercy has placed within our reach A portion of God’s peace.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 467 Incident at Brugès In Brugès town is many a street Whence busy life hath fled; Where, without hurry, noiseless feet The grass-grown pavement tread. There heard we, halting in the shade Flung from a Convent-tower, A harp that tuneful prelude made To a voice of thrilling power. The measure, simple truth to tell, Was fit for some gay throng; Though from the same grim turret fell The shadow and the song. When silent were both voice and chords The strain seemed doubly dear, Yet sad as sweet, for English words Had fallen upon the ear. It was a breezy hour of eve; And pinnacle and spire Quivered and seemed almost to heave, Clothed with innocuous fire; But where we stood, the setting sun Showed little of his state; And, if the glory reached the Nun, ’Twas through an iron grate. Not always is the heart unwise, Nor pity idly born, If even a passing Stranger sighs For them who do not mourn. Sad is thy doom, self-solaced dove, Captive, whoe’er thou be! Oh! what is beauty, what is love, And opening life to thee? Such feeling pressed upon my soul, A feeling sanctified By one soft trickling tear that stole From the Maiden at my side;

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468â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Less tribute could she pay than this, Borne gaily o’er the sea, Fresh from the beauty and the bliss Of English liberty?

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At Dover From the Pier’s head, musing—and with increase Of wonder, long I watched this sea-side Town, Under the white cliff’s battlemented crown, Hushed to a depth of more than Sabbath peace. How strange, methought, this orderly release From social noise—quiet elsewhere unknown! A Spirit whispered, “Doth not Ocean drown Trivial in solemn sounds? Let wonder cease. His overpowering murmurs have set free Thy sense from pressure of life’s common din; As the dread voice that speaks from out the sea Of God’s eternal Word, the voice of Time Deadens—the shocks of tumult, shrieks of crime, The shouts of folly, and the groans of sin.”

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Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems, Composed (two excepted) during a Tour in Scotland, and on the English Border, in the Autumn of 1831 Yarrow Revisited [The following Stanzas are a memorial of a day passed with Sir Walter Scott, and other Friends visiting the Banks of the Yarrow under his guidance, immediately before his departure from Abbotsford, for Naples. â•… The title Yarrow Revisited will stand in no need of explanation, for Readers acquainted with the Author’s previous poems suggested by that celebrated Stream.]

The gallant Youth, who may have gained, Or seeks, a “Winsome Marrow,” Was but an Infant in the lap When first I looked on Yarrow; Once more, by Newark’s Castle-gate Long left without a Warder, I stood, looked, listened, and with Thee, Great Minstrel of the Border! Grave thoughts ruled wide on that sweet day, Their dignity installing In gentle bosoms, while sere leaves Were on the bough, or falling; But breezes played, and sunshine gleamed— The forest to embolden; Reddened the fiery hues, and shot Transparence through the golden. For busy thoughts the Stream flowed on In foamy agitation; And slept in many a crystal pool For quiet contemplation: No public and no private care The freeborn mind enthralling,

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â•… WW’s notes all appeared in the first edition of the series in 1835. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820– 1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 481–488, and 525–536.   See Yarrow Unvisited and Yarrow Visited, in vols. 1 and 2, respectively, of this edition.

470â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth We made a day of happy hours, Our happy days recalling. Brisk Youth appeared, the Morn of youth, With freaks of graceful folly,— Life’s temperate Noon, her sober Eve, Her Night not melancholy, Past, present, future, all appeared In harmony united, Like guests that meet, and some from far, By cordial love invited. And if, as Yarrow, through the woods And down the meadow ranging, Did meet us with unaltered face, Though we were changed and changing; If, then, some natural shadows spread Our inward prospect over, The soul’s deep valley was not slow Its brightness to recover. Eternal blessings on the Muse, And her divine employment! The blameless Muse, who trains her Sons For hope and calm enjoyment; Albeit sickness lingering yet Has o’er their pillow brooded; And Care waylay their steps—a Sprite Not easily eluded. For thee, O Scott! compelled to change Green Eildon-hill and Cheviot For warm Vesuvio’s vine-clad slopes; And leave thy Tweed and Teviot For mild Sorento’s breezy waves; May classic Fancy, linking With native Fancy her fresh aid, Preserve thy heart from sinking! O ! while they minister to thee, Each vying with the other,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 471 May Health return to mellow Age, With Strength, her venturous brother; And Tiber, and each brook and rill Renowned in song and story, With unimagined beauty shine, Nor lose one ray of glory! For Thou, upon a hundred streams, By tales of love and sorrow, Of faithful love, undaunted truth, Hast shed the power of Yarrow; And streams unknown, hills yet unseen, Where’er thy path invite thee, At parent Nature’s grateful call, With gladness must requite Thee. A gracious welcome shall be thine, Such looks of love and honour As thy own Yarrow gave to me When first I gazed upon her; Beheld what I had feared to see, Unwilling to surrender Dreams treasured up from early days, The holy and the tender. And what, for this frail world, were all That mortals do or suffer, Did no responsive harp, no pen, Memorial tribute offer? Yea, what were mighty Nature’s self? Her features, could they win us, Unhelped by the poetic voice That hourly speaks within us? Nor deem that localised Romance Plays false with our affections; Unsanctifies our tears—made sport For fanciful dejections: Ah, no! the visions of the past Sustain the heart in feeling Life as she is—our changeful Life,

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472â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth

With friends and kindred dealing.

Bear witness, Ye, whose thoughts that day In Yarrow’s groves were center’d; Who through the silent portal arch Of mouldering Newark enter’d. And clomb the winding stair that once Too timidly was mounted By the “last Minstrel,” (not the last) Ere he his Tale recounted! Flow on for ever, Yarrow Stream! Fulfil thy pensive duty, Well pleased that future Bards should chant For simple hearts thy beauty, To dream-light dear while yet unseen, Dear to the common sunshine, And dearer still, as now I feel, To memory’s shadowy moonshine!

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I on the departure of sir walter scott from abbotsford, for naples

A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain, Nor of the setting sun’s pathetic light Engendered, hangs o’er Eildon’s triple height: Spirits of Power, assembled there, complain For kindred Power departing from their sight; While Tweed, best pleased in chanting a blithe strain, Saddens his voice again, and yet again. Lift up your hearts, ye Mourners! for the might Of the whole world’s good wishes with him goes; Blessings and prayers in nobler retinue Than sceptred King or laurelled Conqueror knows, Follow this wondrous Potentate. Be true, Ye winds of ocean, and the midland sea, Wafting your Charge to soft Parthenope!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 473 II a place of burial in the south of scotland

Part fenced by man, part by a rugged steep That curbs a foaming brook, a Grave-yard lies; The Hare’s best couching-place for fearless sleep; Which moonlit Elves, far seen by credulous eyes, Enter in dance. Of Church, or Sabbath ties, No vestige now remains; yet thither creep Bereft Ones, and in lowly anguish weep Their prayers out to the wind and naked skies. Proud tomb is none; but rudely-sculptured knights, By humble choice of plain old times, are seen Level with earth, among the hillocks green: Union not sad, when sunny daybreak smites The spangled turf, and neighbouring thickets ring With jubilate from the choirs of spring!

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III on the sight of a manse in the south of scotland

Say, ye far-travelled clouds, far-seeing hills, Among the happiest-looking Homes of men Scatter’d all Britain over, through deep glen, On airy upland, and by forest rills, And o’er wide plains whereon the sky distils Her lark’s loved warblings; does aught meet your ken More fit to animate the Poet’s pen, Aught that more surely by its aspect fills Pure minds with sinless envy, than the Abode Of the good Priest: who, faithful through all hours To his high charge, and truly serving God, Has yet a heart and hand for trees and flowers, Enjoys the walks his Predecessors trod, Nor covets lineal rights in lands and towers. IV composed in roslin chapel, during a storm

The wind is now thy organist;—a clank

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474â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth (We know not whence) ministers for a bell To mark some change of service. as the swell Of music reached its height, and even when sank The notes, in prelude, Roslin! to a blank Of silence, how it thrilled thy sumptuous roof, Pillars, and arches,—not in vain time-proof, Though Christian rites be wanting! From what bank Came those live herbs? by what hand were they sown Where dew falls not, where rain-drops seem unknown? Yet in the Temple they a friendly niche Share with their sculptured fellows, that, green-grown, Copy their beauty more and more, and preach, Though mute, of all things blending into one.

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V the trosachs

There’s not a nook within this solemn Pass, But were an apt confessional for One Taught by his summer spent, his autumn gone, That Life is but a tale of morning grass, Withered at eve. From scenes of art that chase That thought away, turn, and with watchful eyes Feed it ’mid Nature’s old felicities, Rocks, rivers, and smooth lakes more clear than glass Untouched, unbreathed upon. Thrice happy quest, If from a golden perch of aspen spray (October’s workmanship to rival May) The pensive warbler of the ruddy breast This moral sweeten by a heaven-taught lay, Lulling the year, with all its cares, to rest.

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VI The Pibroch’s note, discountenanced or mute; The Roman kilt, degraded to a toy Of quaint apparel for a half-spoilt boy; The target mouldering like ungathered fruit; The smoking steam-boat eager in pursuit, As eagerly pursued; the umbrella spread

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 475 To weather-fend the Celtic herdsman’s head— All speak of manners withering to the root, And some old honours, too, and passions high: Then may we ask, though pleased that thought should range Among the conquests of civility, Survives imagination—to the change Superior? Help to virtue does it give? If not, O Mortals, better cease to live!

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VII composed in the glen of loch etive

This Land of Rainbows, spanning glens whose walls, Rock-built, are hung with rainbow-coloured mists, Of far-stretched Meres, whose salt flood never rests, Of tuneful caves and playful waterfalls, Of mountains varying momently their crests— Proud be this Land! whose poorest Huts are Halls Where Fancy entertains becoming guests; While native song the heroic Past recalls. Thus, in the net of her own wishes caught, The Muse exclaimed: but Story now must hide Her trophies, Fancy crouch;—the course of pride Has been diverted, other lessons taught, That make the Patriot-spirit bow her head Where the all-conquering Roman feared to tread.

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VIII composed after reading a newspaper of the day

“People! your chains are severing link by link; Soon shall the Rich be levelled down—the Poor Meet them halfway.” Vain boast! for These, the more They thus would rise, must low and lower sink Till, by repentance stung, they fear to think; While all lie prostrate, save the tyrant few Bent in quick turns each other to undo, And mix the poison, they themselves must drink. Mistrust thyself, vain Country! cease to cry, “Knowledge will save me from the threatened woe.”

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476â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth For, if than other rash ones more thou know, Yet on presumptuous wing as far would fly Above thy knowledge as they dared to go, Thou wilt provoke a heavier penalty. IX Eagles composed at dunollie castle in the bay of oban

Dishonoured Rock and Ruin! that, by law Tyrannic, keep the Bird of Jove embarred Like a lone criminal whose life is spared. Vexed is he, and screams loud. The last I saw Was on the wing; stooping, he struck with awe Man, bird, and beast; then, with a Consort paired, From a bold headland, their loved aery’s guard, Flew high above Atlantic waves, to draw Light from the fountain of the setting sun. Such was this Prisoner once; and, when his plumes The sea-blast ruffles as the storm comes on, In spirit, for a moment, he resumes His rank ’mong freeborn creatures that live free, His power, his beauty, and his majesty.

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X in the sound of mull

Tradition, be thou mute! Oblivion, throw Thy veil, in mercy, o’er the records hung Round strath and mountain, stamped by the ancient tongue On rock and ruin darkening as we go,— Spots where a word, ghost-like, survives to show What crimes from hate, or desperate love, have sprung; From honour misconceived, or fancied wrong, What feuds, not quenched but fed by mutual woe: Yet, though a wild vindictive Race, untamed By civil arts and labour of the pen, Could gentleness be scorned by these fierce Men, Who, to spread wide the reverence that they claimed

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 477 For patriarchal occupations, named Yon towering Peaks, Shepherds of Etive Glen?” XI at tyndrum

Enough of garlands, of the Arcadian crook, And all that Greece and Italy have sung Of Swains reposing myrtle groves among! Ours couch on naked rocks, will cross a brook Swoln with chill rains, nor ever cast a look This way or that, or give it even a thought More than by smoothest pathway may be brought Into a vacant mind. Can written book Teach what they learn? Up, hardy Mountaineer! And guide the Bard, ambitious to be One Of Nature’s privy council, as thou art, On cloud-sequestered heights, that see and hear To what dread Powers He delegates his part On earth, who works in the heaven of heavens, alone.

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XII the earl of breadalbane’s ruined mansion, and family burial-place, near killin

Well sang the bard who called the Grave, in strains Thoughtful and sad, the “Narrow House.” No style Of fond sepulchral flattery can beguile Grief of her sting; nor cheat, where he detains The sleeping dust, stern Death: how reconcile With truth, or with each other, decked Remains Of a once warm Abode, and that new Pile, For the departed, built with curious pains And mausolean pomp? Yet here they stand Together,—’mid trim walks and artful bowers, To be looked down upon by ancient hills, That, for the living and the dead, demand And prompt a harmony of genuine powers; Concord that elevates the mind, and stills.   “In Gaelic, Buachaill Eite.” WW

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478â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XIII rest and be thankful, at the head of glencoe

Doubling and doubling with laborious walk, Who, that has gained at length the wished-for Height, This brief this simple way-side call can slight, And rests not thankful? Whether cheered by talk With some loved Friend, or by the unseen Hawk Whistling to clouds and sky-born streams, that shine At the sun’s outbreak, as with light divine, Ere they descend to nourish root and stalk Of valley flowers. Nor, while the limbs repose, Will we forget that, as the Fowl can keep Absolute stillness, posed aloft in air, And Fishes front, unmoved, the torrent’s sweep,— So may the Soul, through powers that Faith bestows, Win rest, and ease, and peace, with bliss that Angels share.

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XIV highland hut

See what gay wild flowers deck this earth-built Cot, Whose smoke, forth-issuing whence and how it may, Shines in the greeting of the Sun’s first ray Like wreaths of vapour without stain or blot. The limpid mountain rill avoids it not; And why shouldst thou? If rightly trained and bred, Humanity is humble,—finds no spot Which her Heaven-guided feet refuse to tread. The walls are cracked, sunk is the flowery roof, Undressed the pathway leading to the door; But love, as Nature loves, the lonely Poor; Search, for their worth, some gentle heart wrong-proof, Meek, patient, kind, and, were its trials fewer, Belike less happy.—Stand no more aloof!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 479 XV the brownieâ•›

[Upon a small island not far from the head of Loch Lomond, are some remains of an ancient building, which was for several years the abode of a solitary Individual, one of the last survivors of the Clan of Macfarlane, once powerful in that neighbourhood. Passing along the shore opposite this island in the year 1814, the Author learned these particulars, and that this person then living there had acquired the appellation of “The Brownie.”]

“How disappeared he?” Ask the newt and toad; Ask of his fellow men, and they will tell How he was found, cold as an icicle, Under an arch of that forlorn abode; Where he, unpropp’d, and by the gathering flood Of years hemm’d round, had dwelt, prepared to try Privation’s worst extremities, and die With no one near save the omnipresent God. Verily so to live was an awful choice— A choice that wears the aspect of a doom; But in the mould of mercy all is cast For Souls familiar with the eternal Voice; And this forgotten Taper to the last Drove from itself, we trust, all frightful gloom.

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XVI to the planet venus, an evening star. composed at loch lomond

Though joy attend thee orient at the birth Of dawn, it cheers the lofty spirit most To watch thy course when Day-light, fled from earth, In the grey sky hath left his lingering Ghost, Perplexed as if between a splendour lost And splendour slowly mustering. Since the Sun, The absolute, the world-absorbing One, Relinquished half his empire to the Host Emboldened by thy guidance, holy Star,

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  For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.   “See ‘The Brownie’s Cell,’ in the Author’s Poems, . . . to which the following Sonnet is a sequel.” WW refers to the earlier sonnet by this title in vol. 2.

480â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Holy as princely, who that looks on thee Touching, as now, in thy humility The mountain borders of this seat of care, Can question that thy countenance is bright, Celestial Power, as much with love as light?

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XVII bothwell castle

Immured in Bothwell’s Towers, at times the Brave (So beautiful is Clyde) forgot to mourn The liberty they lost at Bannockbourn. Once on those steeps I roamed at large,and have In mind the landscape, as if still in sight; The river glides, the woods before me wave; But, by occasion tempted, now I crave Needless renewal of an old delight. Better to thank a dear and long-past day For joy its sunny hours were free to give Than blame the present, that our wish hath crost. Memory, like Sleep, hath powers which dreams obey, Dreams, vivid dreams, that are not fugitive: How little that she cherishes is lost!

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XVIII picture of daniel in the lion’s den, at hamilton palace

Amid a fertile region green with wood And fresh with rivers, well doth it become The Ducal Owner, in his Palace-home To naturalise this tawny Lion brood; Children of Art, that claim strange brotherhood, Couched in their Den, with those that roam at large Over the burning wilderness, and charge The wind with terror while they roar for food. But these are satiate, and a stillness drear Calls into life a more enduring fear; Yet is the Prophet calm, nor would the cave Daunt him—if his Companions, now be-drowsed   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 481 Yawning and listless, were by hunger roused: Man placed him here, and God, he knows, can save. XIX The Avon (A Feeder of the Annan) Avon—a precious, an immortal name! Yet is it one that other Rivulets bear Like this unheard-of, and their channels wear Like this contented, though unknown to Fame: For great and sacred is the modest claim Of streams to Nature’s love, where’er they flow; And ne’er did genius slight them, as they go, Tree, flower, and green herb, feeding without blame. But Praise can waste her voice on work of tears, Anguish, and death: full oft where innocent blood Has mixed its current with the limpid flood, Her heaven-offending trophies Glory rears; Never for like distinction may the good Shrink from thy name, pure Rill, with unpleased ears!

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XX suggested by a view from an eminence in inglewood forest

The forest huge of ancient Caledon Is but a name, nor more is Inglewood, That swept from hill to hill, from flood to flood: On her last thorn the nightly Moon has shone; Yet still, though unappropriate Wild be none, Fair parks spread wide where Adam Bell might deign With Clym o’ the Clough, were they alive again, To kill for merry feast their venison. Nor wants the holy Abbot’s gliding Shade His Church with monumental wreck bestrown; The feudal Warrior-chief, a Ghost unlaid, Hath still his Castle, though a Skeleton, That he may watch by night, and lessons con Of Power that perishes, and Rights that fade.

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482â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXI hart’s-horn tree, near penrith

Here stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed To his huge trunk, or, with more subtle art, Among its withering topmost branches mixed, The palmy antlers of a hunted Hart, Whom the dog Hercules pursued—his part Each desperately sustaining, till at last Both sank and died, the life-veins of the chased And chaser bursting here with one dire smart. Mutual the Victory, mutual the Defeat! High was the trophy hung with pitiless pride; Say, rather, with that generous sympathy That wants not, even in rudest breasts, a seat; And, for this feeling’s sake, let no one chide Verse that would guard thy memory, Hart’s-horn Tree!

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XXII countess’s pillar

[On the roadside between Penrith and Appleby, there stands a pillar with the following inscription:— “This pillar was erected, in the year 1656, by Anne Countess Dowager of Pembroke, &c. for a memorial of her last parting with her pious mother, Margaret Countess Dowager of Cumberland, on the 2d of April, 1616; in memory whereof she hath left an annuity of 4l. to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham, every 2d day of April for ever, upon the stone table placed hard by. Laus Deo!”]

While the Poor gather round, till the end of time May this bright flower of Charity display Its bloom, unfolding at the appointed day; Flower than the loveliest of the vernal prime Lovelier—transplanted from heaven’s purest clime! “Charity never faileth:” on that creed, More than on written testament or deed, The pious Lady built with hope sublime. Alms on this stone to be dealt out, for ever! “ Laus Deo.” Many a Stranger passing by   For WW’s note see the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 483 Has with that parting mixed a filial sigh, Blest its humane Memorial’s fond endeavour; And, fastening on those lines an eye tear-glazed, Has ended, though no Clerk, with “God be praised!” XXIII roman antiquities

(from the roman station at old penrith) How profitless the relics that we cull, Troubling the last holds of ambitious Rome, Unless they chasten fancies that presume Too high, or idle agitations lull! Of the world’s flatteries if the brain be full, To have no seat for thought were better doom, Like this old helmet, or the eyeless skull Of him who gloried in its nodding plume. Heaven out of view, our wishes what are they? Our fond regrets, insatiate in their grasp? The Sage’s theory? the Poet’s lay? Mere Fibulæ without a robe to clasp; Obsolete lamps, whose light no time recalls; Urns without ashes, tearless lacrymals!

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Apology No more: the end is sudden and abrupt, Abrupt—as without preconceived design Was the beginning, yet the several Lays Have moved in order, to each other bound By a continuous and acknowledged tie Though unapparent, like those Shapes distinct That yet survive ensculptured on the walls Of Palace, or of Temple, ’mid the wreck Of famed Persepolis; each following each, As might beseem a stately embassy, In set array; these bearing in their hands Ensign of civil power, weapon of war, Or gift, to be presented at the Throne Of the Great King; and others, as they go

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484â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth In priestly vest, with holy offerings charged, Or leading victims drest for sacrifice. Nor will the Muse condemn, or treat with scorn Our ministration, humble but sincere, That from a threshold loved by every Muse Its impulse took—that sorrow-stricken door, Whence, as a current from its fountain-head, Our thoughts have issued, and our feelings flowed, Receiving, willingly or not, fresh strength From kindred sources; while around us sighed (Life’s three first seasons having passed away) Leaf-scattering winds, and hoar-frost sprinklings fell, Foretaste of winter, on the moorland heights; And every day brought with it tidings new Of rash change, ominous for the public weal. Hence, if dejection have too oft encroached Upon that sweet and tender melancholy Which may itself be cherished and caressed More than enough, a fault so natural, Even with the young, the hopeful, or the gay, For prompt forgiveness will not sue in vain.

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The Highland Broach If to Tradition faith be due, And echoes from old verse speak true, Ere the meek Saint, Columba, bore Glad tidings to Iona’s shore, No common light of nature blessed The mountain region of the west, A land where gentle manners ruled O’er men in dauntless virtues schooled, That raised, for centuries, a bar Impervious to the tide of war; Yet peaceful Arts did entrance gain Where haughty Force had striven in vain; And, ’mid the works of skilful hands, By wanderers brought from foreign lands And various climes, was not unknown The clasp that fixed the Roman Gown;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 485 The Fibula, whose shape, I ween, Still in the Highland Broach is seen, The silver Broach of massy frame, Worn at the breast of some grave Dame On road or path, or at the door Of fern-thatched Hut on heathy moor: But delicate of yore its mould, And the material finest gold; As might beseem the fairest Fair, Whether she graced a royal chair, Or shed, within a vaulted Hall, No fancied lustre on the wall Where shields of mighty Heroes hung, While Fingal heard what Ossian sung. The heroic Age expired—it slept Deep in its tomb:—the bramble crept O’er Fingal’s hearth; the grassy sod Grew on the floors his Sons had trod: Malvina! where art thou? Their state The noblest-born must abdicate, The fairest, while with fire and sword Come Spoilers—horde impelling horde, Must walk the sorrowing mountains, drest By ruder hands in homelier vest. Yet still the female bosom lent, And loved to borrow, ornament; Still was its inner world a place Reached by the dews of heavenly grace; Still pity to this last retreat Clove fondly; to his favourite seat Love wound his way by soft approach, Beneath a massier Highland Broach. When alternations came of rage Yet fiercer, in a darker age; And feuds, where, clan encountering clan, The weaker perished to a man; For maid and mother, when despair Might else have triumphed, baffling prayer,

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486â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth One small possession lacked not power, Provided in a calmer hour, To meet such need as might befall— Roof, raiment, bread, or burial: For woman, even of tears bereft, The hidden silver Broach was left. As generations come and go, Their arts, their customs, ebb and flow; Fate, fortune, sweep strong powers away, And feeble, of themselves, decay; What poor abodes the heir-loom hide, In which the castle once took pride! Tokens, once kept as boasted wealth, If saved at all, are saved by stealth. Lo! ships, from seas by nature barred, Mount along ways by man prepared; And in far-stretching vales, whose streams Seek other seas, their canvass gleams. Lo! busy towns spring up, on coasts Thronged yesterday by airy ghosts; Soon, like a lingering star forlorn Among the novelties of morn, While young delights on old encroach, Will vanish the last Highland Broach. But when, from out their viewless bed, Like vapours, years have rolled and spread; And this poor verse, and worthier lays, Shall yield no light of love or praise, Then, by the spade, or cleaving plough, Or torrent from the mountain’s brow, Or whirlwind, reckless what his might Entombs, or forces into light, Blind Chance, a volunteer ally, That oft befriends Antiquity, And clears Oblivion from reproach, May render back the Highland Broach.

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  “The exact resemblance which the old Broach (still in use, though rarely met with, among the Highlanders) bears to the Roman Fibula must strike every one, and concurs with the plaid and kilt to recall to mind the communication which the ancient Romans had with this

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 487 [Poem not included in series as published] The Modern Athens “Now that a Parthenon ascends, to crown Our Calton hill, sage Pallas! ’tis most fit This thy dear City by the name be known Of modern Athens.” But opinions split Upon this point of taste; and Mother Wit Cries out, “Auld Reekie, guid and honest Town Of Ed’nbro’, put the sad misnomer down,— This alias of Conceit—away with it!” Let none provoke, for questionable smiles From an outlandish Goddess, the just scorn Of thy staunch gothic Patron, grave St Giles; —Far better than such heathen foppery The homeliest Title thou hast ever borne Before or since the times of, Wha wants me?

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remote country. How much the Broach is sometimes prized by persons in humble stations may be gathered from an occurrence mentioned to me by a female friend. She had had an opportunity of benefiting a poor old woman in her own hut, who, wishing to make a return, said to her daughter, in Erse, in a tone of plaintive earnestness, ‘I would give any thing I have, but I hope she does not wish for my Broach!’ and, uttering these words, she put her hand upon the Broach which fastened her kerchief, and which, she imagined, had attracted the eye of her benefactress.” WW

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Sonnets Composed or Suggested during a tour in Scotland, in the Summer of 1833 Sonnets composed or suggested during a tour in scotland, in the summer of

1833

[Having been prevented by the lateness of the season, in 1831, from visiting Staffa and Iona, the author made these the principal objects of a short tour in the summer of 1833, of which the following series of sonnets is a Memorial. The course pursued was down the Cumberland river Derwent, and to Whitehaven; thence (by the Isle of Man, where a few days were passed) up the Frith of Clyde to Greenock, then to Oban, Staffa, Iona; and back towards England, by Loch Awe, Inverary, Loch Goil-head, Greenock, and through parts of Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, and Dumfries-shire to Carlisle, and thence up the river Eden, and homewards by Ullswater.]

Sonnets, 1833 I Adieu, Rydalian Laurels! that have grown And spread as if ye knew that days might come When ye would shelter in a happy home, On this fair Mount, a Poet of your own, One who ne’er ventured for a Delphic crown To sue the God; but, haunting your green shade All seasons through, is humbly pleased to braid Ground-flowers, beneath your guardianship, self sown. Farewell! no Minstrels now with Harp new-strung For summer wandering quit their household bowers; Yet not for this wants Poesy a tongue To cheer the Itinerant on whom she pours Her spirit, while he crosses lonely moors, Or musing sits forsaken halls among.

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  WW’s notes are those published with the series in Yarrow Revisited and Other Poems (1835). For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820–1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 561–572, and 640–655.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 489 II Why should the Enthusiast, journeying through this Isle, Repine as if his hour were come too late? Not unprotected in her mouldering state, Antiquity salutes him with a smile, ’Mid fruitful fields that ring with jocund toil, And pleasure-grounds where Taste, refined Co-mate Of Truth and Beauty, strives to imitate, Far as she may, primeval Nature’s style. Fair land! by Time’s parental love made free, By social Order’s watchful arms embraced, With unexampled union meet in thee, For eye and mind, the present and the past; With golden prospect for futurity, If what is rightly reverenced may last.

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III They called Thee merry England, in old time; A happy people won for thee that name With envy heard in many a distant clime; And, spite of change, for me thou keep’st the same Endearing title, a responsive chime To the heart’s fond belief, though some there are Whose sterner judgments deem that word a snare For inattentive Fancy, like the lime Which foolish birds are caught with. Can, I ask, This face of rural beauty be a mask For discontent, and poverty, and crime; These spreading towns a cloak for lawless will; Forbid it, Heaven!—that “merry England” still May be thy rightful name, in prose and rhyme! IV to the river greta, near keswick

Greta, what fearful listening! when huge stones Rumble along thy bed, block after block: Or, whirling with reiterated shock, Combat, while darkness aggravates the groans:

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490â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth But if thou (like Cocytus from the moans Heard on his rueful margin) thence wert named The Mourner, thy true nature was defamed, And the habitual murmur that atones For thy worst rage, forgotten. Oft as Spring Decks, on thy sinuous banks, her thousand thrones, Seats of glad instinct and love’s carolling, The concert, for the happy, then may vie With liveliest peals of birth-day harmony: To a grieved heart, the notes are benisons.

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V to the river derwent

Among the mountains were we nursed, loved stream! Thou near the Eagle’s nest—within brief sail, I, of his bold wing floating on the gale, Where thy deep voice could lull me! Faint the beam Of human life when first allowed to gleam On mortal notice.—Glory of the Vale, Such thy meek outset, with a crown, though frail, Kept in perpetual verdure by the steam Of thy soft breath!—Less vivid wreath entwined Nemæan victor’s brow; less bright was worn, Meed of some Roman chief—in triumph borne With captives chained; and shedding from his car The sunset splendours of a finished war Upon the proud enslavers of mankind!

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VI in sight of the town of cockermouth (where the author was born, and his father’s remains are laid)

A point of life between my Parents’ dust, And your’s, my buried Little-ones! am I; And to those graves looking habitually In kindred quiet I repose my trust.   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.   “This sonnet has already appeared in several editions of the author’s poems; but he is tempted to reprint it in this place, as a natural introduction to the two that follow it.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 491 Death to the innocent is more than just, And, to the sinner, mercifully bent; So may I hope, if truly I repent And meekly bear the ills which bear I must: And You, my Offspring! that do still remain, Yet may outstrip me in the appointed race, If e’er, through fault of mine, in mutual pain We breathed together for a moment’s space, The wrong, by love provoked, let love arraign, And only love keep in your hearts a place.

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VII address from the spirit of cockermouth castle

Thou look’st upon me, and dost fondly think, Poet! that, stricken as both are by years, We, differing once so much, are now Compeers, Prepared, when each has stood his time, to sink Into the dust. Erewhile a sterner link United us; when thou, in boyish play, Entering my dungeon, didst become a prey To soul-appalling darkness. Not a blink Of light was there;—and thus did I, thy Tutor, Make thy young thoughts acquainted with the grave; While thou wert chasing the wing’d butterfly Through my green courts; or climbing, a bold suitor, Up to the flowers whose golden progeny Still round my shattered brow in beauty wave.

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VIII nun’s well, brigham

The cattle crowding round this beverage clear To slake their thirst, with reckless hoofs have trod The encircling turf into a barren clod; Through which the waters creep, then disappear, Born to be lost in Derwent flowing near; Yet, o’er the brink, and round the limestone-cell Of the pure spring (they call it the “Nun’s Well,” Name that first struck by chance my startled ear)

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492â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A tender Spirit broods—the pensive Shade Of ritual honours to this Fountain paid By hooded Votaries with saintly cheer; Albeit oft the Virgin-mother mild Looked down with pity upon eyes beguiled Into the shedding of “too soft a tear.”

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IX to a friend (on the banks of the derwent)

Pastor and Patriot! at whose bidding rise These modest Walls, amid a flock that need For one who comes to watch them and to feed A fixed Abode, keep down presageful sighs. Threats which the unthinking only can despise, Perplex the Church; but be thou firm,—be true To thy first hope, and this good work pursue, Poor as thou art. A welcome sacrifice Dost Thou prepare, whose sign will be the smoke Of thy new hearth; and sooner shall its wreaths, Mounting while earth her morning incense breathes, From wandering fiends of air receive a yoke, And straightway cease to aspire, than God disdain This humble tribute as ill-timed or vain.

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X mary queen of scots (landing at the mouth of the derwent, workington)

Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed, The Queen drew back the wimple that she wore; And to the throng how touchingly she bowed   “Attached to the church of Brigham was formerly a chantry, which held a moiety of the manor; and in the decayed parsonage some vestiges of monastic architecture are still to be seen.” WW   “â•›‘The fears and impatience of Mary were so great,’ says Robertson, ‘that she got into a fisher-boat, and with about twenty attendants landed at Workington, in Cumberland; and thence she was conducted with many marks of respect to Carlisle.’ The apartment in which the Queen had slept at Workington Hall (where she was received by Sir Henry Curwen as became her rank and misfortunes) was long preserved, out of respect to her memory, as she had left it; and one cannot but regret that some necessary alterations in the mansion could not be effected without its destruction.” WW quotes from The History of Scotland (1759) by William Robertson.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 493 That hailed her landing on the Cumbrian shore; Bright as a Star (that, from a sombre cloud Of pine-tree foliage poised in air, forth darts, When a soft summer gale at evening parts The gloom that did its loveliness enshroud) She smiled; but Time, the old Saturnian Seer, Sighed on the wing as her foot pressed the strand, With step prelusive to a long array Of woes and degradations hand in hand, Weeping captivity, and shuddering fear Stilled by the ensanguined block of Fotheringay!

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XI in the channel, between the coast of cumberland and the isle of man

Ranging the Heights of Scawfell or Black-coom, In his lone course the Shepherd oft will pause, And strive to fathom the mysterious laws By which the clouds, arrayed in light or gloom, On Mona settle, and the shapes assume Of all her peaks and ridges. What He draws From sense, faith, reason, fancy, of the cause He will take with him to the silent tomb: Or, by his fire, a Child upon his knee, Haply the untaught Philosopher may speak Of the strange sight, nor hide his theory That satisfies the simple and the meek, Blest in their pious ignorance, though weak To cope with Sages undevoutly free.

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XII at sea off the isle of man.

Bold words affirmed, in days when faith was strong, And doubts and scruples seldom teazed the brain, That no adventurer’s bark had power to gain These shores if he approached them bent on wrong; For, suddenly up-conjured from the Main, Mists rose to hide the Land—that search, though long

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494â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And eager, might be still pursued in vain. O Fancy, what an age was that for song! That age, when not by laws inanimate, As men believed, the waters were impelled, The air controlled, the stars their courses held, But element and orb on acts did wait Of Powers endued with visible form, instinct With will, and to their work by passion linked.

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XIII Desire we past illusions to recall? To reinstate wild Fancy, would we hide Truths whose thick veil Science has drawn aside? No,—let this Age, high as she may, install In her esteem the thirst that wrought man’s fall, The universe is infinitely wide; And conquering Reason, if self-glorified, Can nowhere move uncrossed by some new wall Or gulf of mystery, which thou alone, Imaginative Faith! canst overleap, In progress toward the fount of Love,—the throne Of Power, whose ministering Spirits records keep Of periods fixed, and laws established, less Flesh to exalt than prove its nothingness.

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XIV on entering douglas bay, isle of man

“Dignum laude viru Musa vetat mori.”

The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn, Even when they rose to check or to repel Tides of aggressive war, oft served as well Greedy ambition, armed to treat with scorn Just limits; but yon Tower, whose smiles adorn This perilous bay, stands clear of all offence; Blest work it is of love and innocence, A Tower of refuge to the else forlorn. Spare it, ye waves, and lift the mariner, Struggling for life, into its saving arms!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 495 Spare, too, the human helpers! Do they stir ’Mid your fierce shock like men afraid to die? No, their dread service nerves the heart it warms, And they are led by noble Hillary. XV by the sea-shore, isle of man.

Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine With wonder, smit by its transparency, And all-enraptured with its purity? Because the unstained, the clear, the crystalline, Have ever in them something of benign; Whether in gem, in water, or in sky, A sleeping infant’s brow, or wakeful eye Of a young maiden, only not divine. Scarcely the hand forbears to dip its palm For beverage drawn as from a mountain well: Temptation centres in the liquid Calm; Our daily raiment seems no obstacle To instantaneous plunging in, deep Sea! And revelling in long embrace with Thee.

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XVI isle of man

A youth too certain of his power to wade On the smooth bottom of this clear bright sea, To sight so shallow, with a bather’s glee Leapt from this rock, and surely, had not aid Been near, must soon have breathed out life, betrayed By fondly trusting to an element Fair, and to others more than innocent; Then had sea-nymphs sung dirges for him laid In peaceful earth: for, doubtless, he was frank, Utterly in himself devoid of guile;

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â•… “The Tower of Refuge, an ornament to Douglas Bay, was erected chiefly through the humanity and zeal of Sir William Hillary; and he also was the founder of the life-boat establishment, at that place; by which, under his superintendence, and often by his exertions at the imminent hazard of his own life, many seamen and passengers have been saved.” WW

496â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Knew not the double-dealing of a smile; Nor aught that makes men’s promises a blank, Or deadly snare: and He survives to bless The Power that saved him in his strange distress. XVII the retired marine officer, isle of man

Not pangs of grief for lenient time too keen, Grief that devouring waves had caused, nor guilt Which they had witnessed, swayed the man who built This homestead, placed where nothing could be seen, Nought heard of ocean, troubled or serene. A tired Ship-soldier on paternal land, That o’er the channel holds august command, The dwelling raised,—a veteran Marine; Who, in disgust, turned from the neighbouring sea To shun the memory of a listless life That hung between two callings. May no strife More hurtful here beset him, doom’d, though free, Self-doom’d to worse inaction, till his eye Shrink from the daily sight of earth and sky!

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XVIII by a retired mariner (a friend of the author)

From early youth I ploughed the restless Main, My mind as restless and as apt to change; Through every clime and ocean did I range, In hope at length a competence to gain; For poor to Sea I went, and poor I still remain. Year after year I strove, but strove in vain, And hardships manifold did I endure, For Fortune on me never deign’d to smile; Yet I at last a resting-place have found, With just enough life’s comforts to procure, In a snug Cove on this our favoured Isle,

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  “This unpretending sonnet is by a gentleman nearly connected with the author, who hopes, as it falls so easily into its place, that both the writer and the reader will excuse its appearance here.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 497 A peaceful spot where Nature’s gifts abound; Then sure I have no reason to complain, Though poor to Sea I went, and poor I still remain. XIX at bala-sala, isle of man (supposed to be written by a friend of the author)

Broken in fortune, but in mind entire And sound in principle, I seek repose Where ancient trees this convent-pile enclose, In ruin beautiful. When vain desire Intrudes on peace, I pray the eternal Sire To cast a soul-subduing shade on me, A grey-haired, pensive, thankful Refugee, A shade but with some sparks of heavenly fire Once to these cells vouchsafed. And when I note The old Tower’s brow yellowed as with the beams Of sunset ever there, albeit streams Of stormy weather-stains that semblance wrought, I thank the silent Monitor, and say “Shine so, my aged brow, at all hours of the day!”

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XX tynwald hill

Once on the top of Tynwald’s formal mound (Still marked with green turf circles narrowing Stage above stage) would sit this Island’s King, The laws to promulgate, enrobed and crowned; While, compassing the little mount around, Degrees and Orders stood, each under each: Now, like to things within fate’s easiest reach, The power is merged, the pomp a grave has found. Off with yon cloud, old Snafell! that thine eye

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  “Rushen Abbey.” WW   “The summit of this mountain is well chosen by Cowley, as the scene of the ‘Vision,’ in which the spectral angel discourses with him concerning the government of Oliver Cromwell. ‘I found myself,’ says he, ‘on the top of that famous hill in the Island Mona, which has the prospect of three great, and not long since most happy, kingdoms. As soon as ever I looked upon them, they called forth the sad representation of all the sins and all the miser-

498â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Over three Realms may take its widest range; And let, for them, thy fountains utter strange Voices, thy winds break forth in prophecy, If the whole State must suffer mortal change, Like Mona’s miniature of sovereignty.

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XXI Despond who will—I heard a voice exclaim, “Though fierce the assault, and shatter’d the defence, It cannot be that Britain’s social frame, The glorious work of time and providence, Before a flying season’s rash pretence, Should fall; that She, whose virtue put to shame, When Europe prostrate lay, the Conqueror’s aim, Should perish, self-subverted. Black and dense The cloud is; but brings that a day of doom To Liberty? Her sun is up the while, That orb whose beams round Saxon Alfred shone, Then laugh, ye innocent Vales! ye Streams, sweep on, Nor let one billow of our heaven-blest Isle Toss in the fanning wind a humbler plume.”

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XXII in the frith of clyde, ailsa crag (july

Since risen from ocean, ocean to defy, Appeared the Crag of Ailsa, ne’er did morn With gleaming lights more gracefully adorn His sides, or wreathe with mist his forehead high: Now, faintly darkening with the sun’s eclipse, Still is he seen, in lone sublimity, Towering above the sea and little ships; For dwarfs the tallest seem while sailing by, Each for her haven; with her freight of Care, Pleasure, or Grief, and Toil that seldom looks Into the secret of to-morrow’s fare;

17, 1833)

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ies that had overwhelmed them these twenty years.’ It is not to be denied that the changes now in progress, and the passions, and the way in which they work, strikingly resemble those which led to the disasters the philosophic writer so feelingly bewails. God grant that the resemblance may not become still more striking as months and years advance!” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 499 Though poor, yet rich, without the wealth of books, Or aught that watchful Love to Nature owes For her mute Powers, fix’d Forms, and transient Shows. XXIII on the frith of clyde (in a steam-boat)

Arran! a single-crested Teneriffe, A St. Helena next—in shape and hue, Varying her crowded peaks and ridges blue; Who but must covet a cloud-seat or skiff Built for the air, or winged Hippogriff, That he might fly, where no one could pursue, From this dull Monster and her sooty crew; And, like a God, light on thy topmost cliff. Impotent wish! which reason would despise If the mind knew no union of extremes, No natural bond between the boldest schemes Ambition frames, and heart-humilities. Beneath stern mountains many a soft vale lies, And lofty springs give birth to lowly streams.

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XXIV on revisiting dunolly castleâ•›

The captive Bird was gone;—to cliff or moor Perchance had flown, delivered by the storm; Or he had pined, and sunk to feed the worm: Him found we not; but, climbing a tall tower, There saw, impaved with rude fidelity Of art mosaic, in a roofless floor, An Eagle with stretched wings, but beamless eye— An Eagle that could neither wail nor soar. Effigies of the Vanished, (shall I dare To call thee so?) or symbol of past times, That towering courage, and the savage deeds Those times were proud of, take Thou too a share,

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  WW refers the reader to a sonnet in the “former series,” Yarrow Revisited, IX. Eagles, and provides the following note: “This ingenious piece of workmanship, as the author afterwards learned, had been executed for their own amusement by some labourers employed about the place.”

500â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Not undeserved, of the memorial rhymes That animate my way where’er it leads! XXV the dunolly eagle

Not to the clouds, not to the cliff, he flew; But when a storm, on sea or mountain bred, Came and delivered him, alone he sped Into the Castle-dungeon’s darkest mew. Now, near his Master’s house in open view He dwells, and hears indignant tempests howl, Kennelled and chained. Ye tame domestic Fowl, Beware of him! Thou, saucy Cockatoo, Look to thy plumage and thy life!—The Roe, Fleet as the west wind, is for him no quarry; Balanced in ether he will never tarry, Eyeing the sea’s blue depths. Poor Bird! even so Doth Man of Brother-man a creature make, That clings to slavery for its own sad sake.

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XXVI cave of staffa

We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd, Not One of us has felt, the far-famed sight; How could we feel it? each the other’s blight, Hurried and hurrying, volatile and loud. O for those motions only that invite The Ghost of Fingal to his tuneful Cave! By the breeze entered, and wave after wave Softly embosoming the timid light! And by one Votary who at will might stand Gazing, and take into his mind and heart, With undistracted reverence, the effect Of those proportions where the almighty hand That made the worlds, the sovereign Architect, Has deigned to work as if with human Art!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 501 XXVII cave of staffa

Thanks for the lessons of this Spot—fit school For the presumptuous thoughts that would assign Mechanic laws to agency divine; And, measuring heaven by earth, would overrule Infinite Power. The pillared vestibule, Expanding yet precise, the roof embowed, Might seem designed to humble Man, when proud Of his best workmanship by plan and tool. Down-bearing with his whole Atlantic weight Of tide and tempest on the Structure’s base, And flashing upwards to its topmost height, Ocean has proved its strength, and of its grace In calms is conscious, finding for his freight Of softest music some responsive place.

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XXVIII cave of staffa

Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims In every cell of Fingal’s mystic Grot, Where are ye? Driven or venturing to the spot, Our Fathers glimpses caught of your thin Frames, And, by your mien and bearing, knew your names; And they could hear his ghostly song who trod Earth, till the flesh lay on him like a load, While he struck his desolate harp without hopes or aims. Vanished ye are, but subject to recall; Why keep we else the instincts whose dread law Ruled here of yore, till what men felt they saw, Not by black arts but magic natural! If eyes be still sworn vassals of belief, Yon light shapes forth a Bard, that shade a Chief.

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  “The reader may be tempted to exclaim, “How came this and the two following sonnets to be written, after the dissatisfaction expressed in the preceding one?” In fact, at the risk of incurring the reasonable displeasure of the master of the steamboat, the author returned to the cave, and explored it under circumstances more favourable to those imaginative impressions, which it is so wonderfully fitted to make upon the mind.” WW

502â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXIX flowers on the top of the pillars at the entrance of the cave

Hope smiled when your nativity was cast, Children of Summer! Ye fresh flowers that brave What Summer here escapes not, the fierce wave, And whole artillery of the western blast, Battering the Temple’s front, its long-drawn nave Smiting, as if each moment were their last. But ye, bright flowers, on frieze and architrave Survive, and once again the Pile stands fast, Calm as the Universe, from specular Towers Of heaven contemplated by Spirits pure— Suns and their systems, diverse yet sustained In symmetry, and fashioned to endure, Unhurt, the assault of Time with all his hours, As the supreme Artificer ordained.

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XXX On to Iona!—What can she afford To us save matter for a thoughtful sigh, Heaved over ruin with stability In urgent contrast? To diffuse the Word (Thy Paramount, mighty Nature! and Time’s Lord) Her Temples rose, ’mid pagan gloom; but why, Even for a moment, has our verse deplored Their wrongs, since they fulfilled their destiny? And when, subjected to a common doom Of mutability, those far-famed Piles Shall disappear from both the sister Isles, Iona’s Saints, forgetting not past days, Garlands shall wear of amaranthine bloom, While heaven’s vast sea of voices chants their praise.

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  “Upon the head of the columns which form the front of the cave, rests a body of decomposed basaltic matter, which was richly decorated with that large bright flower, the ox-eyed daisy. The author had noticed the same flower growing with profusion among the bold rocks on the western coast of the Isle of Man; making a brilliant contrast with their black and gloomy surfaces.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 503 XXXI iona (upon landing)

With earnest look, to every voyager, Some ragged child holds up for sale his store Of wave-worn pebbles, pleading on the shore Where once came monk and nun with gentle stir, Blessings to give, news ask, or suit prefer. But see yon neat trim church, a grateful speck Of novelty amid this sacred wreck— Nay spare thy scorn, haughty Philosopher! Fallen though she be, this Glory of the west, Still on her sons the beams of mercy shine; And “hopes, perhaps more heavenly bright than thine, A grace by thee unsought and unpossest, A faith more fixed, a rapture more divine Shall gild their passage to eternal rest.”

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XXXII the black stones of iona

[See Martin’s Voyage among the Western Isles]

Here on their knees men swore: the stones were black, Black in the People’s minds and words, yet they Were at that time, as now, in colour grey. But what is colour, if upon the rack Of conscience souls are placed by deeds that lack Concord with oaths? What differ night and day Then, when before the Perjured on his way Hell opens, and the heavens in vengeance crack Above his head uplifted in vain prayer To Saint, or Fiend, or to the Godhead whom He had insulted—Peasant, King, or Thane. Fly where the culprit may, guilt meets a doom; And, from invisible worlds at need laid bare, Come links for social order’s awful chain.

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  “The four last lines of this sonnet are adopted from a well-known sonnet of Russell, as conveying the author’s feeling better than any words of his own could do.” WW cites sonnet 10 in Thomas Russell’s Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems (Oxford, 1789).

504â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXXIII Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba’s Cell, Where Christian piety’s soul-cheering spark (Kindled from Heaven between the light and dark Of time) shone like the morning-star, farewell!— Remote St. Kilda, art thou visible? No—but farewell to thee, beloved sea-mark For many a voyage made in Fancy’s bark, When with more hues than in the rainbow dwell Thou a mysterious intercourse dost hold; Extracting from clear skies and air serene, And out of sun-bright waves, a lucid veil, That thickens, spreads, and, mingling fold with fold Makes known, when thou no longer canst be seen, Thy whereabout, to warn the approaching sail.

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XXXIV greenock

Per me si va nella Città dolente.

We have not passed into a doleful City, We who were led to-day down a grim Dell, By some too boldly named “the Jaws of Hell:” Where be the wretched Ones, the sights for pity? These crowded streets resound no plaintive ditty: As from the hive where bees in summer dwell, Sorrow seems here excluded; and that knell, It neither damps the gay, nor checks the witty. Too busy Mart! thus fared it with old Tyre, Whose Merchants Princes were, whose decks were thrones: Soon may the punctual sea in vain respire To serve thy need, in union with that Clyde Whose nursling current brawls o’er mossy stones, The poor, the lonely Herdsman’s joy and pride. XXXV “There!” said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride Towards a low roof with green trees half concealed, “Is Mossgiel farm; and that’s the very field

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 505 Where Burns ploughed up the Daisy.” Far and wide A plain below stretched sea-ward, while, descried Above sea-clouds, the Peaks of Arran rose; And, by that simple notice, the repose Of earth, sky, sea, and air, was vivified. Beneath “the random bield of clod or stone” Myriads of Daisies have shone forth in flower Near the lark’s nest, and in their natural hour Have passed away, less happy than the One That by the unwilling ploughshare died to prove The tender charm of Poetry and Love

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XXXVI fancy and tradition

The Lovers took within this ancient grove Their last embrace; beside those crystal springs The Hermit saw the Angel spread his wings For instant flight; the Sage in yon alcove Sate musing; on that hill the Bard would rove, Not mute, where now the Linnet only sings: Thus every where to truth Tradition clings, Or Fancy localises Powers we love. Were only History licensed to take note Of things gone by, her meagre monuments Would ill suffice for persons and events: There is an ampler page for man to quote, A readier book of manifold contents, Studied alike in palace and in cot.

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XXXVII the river eden, cumberland

Eden! till now thy beauty had I viewed By glimpses only, and confess with shame That verse of mine, whate’er its varying mood, Repeats but once the sound of thy sweet name; Yet fetched from Paradise that honour came,

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  “It is to be feared that there is more of the poet than the sound etymologist in this derivation of the name Eden. On the western coast of Cumberland is a rivulet which enters the sea at Moresby, known also in the neighbourhood by the name of Eden. May not the latter

506â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Rightfully borne; for Nature gives thee flowers That have no rivals among British bowers; And thy bold rocks are worthy of their fame. Measuring thy course, fair Stream! at length I pay To my life’s neighbour dues of neighbourhood; But I have traced thee on thy winding way With pleasure sometimes by the thought restrained That things far off are toiled for, while a good Not sought, because too near, is seldom gained.

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XXXVIII monument of mrs. howard

(by nollekins)

in wetheral church, near corby, on the banks of the eden

Stretched on the dying Mother’s lap, lies dead Her new-born Babe, dire issue of bright hope! But Sculpture here, with the divinest scope Of luminous faith, heavenward hath raised that head So patiently; and through one hand has spread A touch so tender for the insensate Child, Earth’s lingering love to parting reconciled, Brief parting—for the spirit is all but fled; That we, who contemplate the turns of life Through this still medium, are consoled and cheered; Feel with the Mother, think the severed Wife Is less to be lamented than revered; And own that Art, triumphant over strife And pain, hath powers to Eternity endeared.

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XXXIX Tranquillity! the sovereign aim wert thou In heathen schools of philosophic lore; Heart-stricken by stern destiny of yore The Tragic Muse thee served with thoughtful vow; And what of hope Elysium could allow

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syllable come from the word Dean, a valley? Langdale, near Ambleside, is by the inhabitants called Langden. The former syllable occurs in the name Eamont, a principal feeder of the Eden; and the stream which flows, when the tide is out, over Cartmel Sands, is called the Ea.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 507 Was fondly seized by Sculpture, to restore Peace to the Mourner’s soul; but He who wore The crown of thorns around his bleeding brow Warmed our sad being with his glorious light: Then Arts, which still had drawn a softening grace From shadowy fountains of the Infinite, Communed with that Idea face to face; And move around it now as planets run, Each in its orbit, round the central Sun.

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XL nunnery

The floods are roused, and will not soon be weary; Down from the Pennine Alps how fiercely sweeps Croglin, the stately Eden’s tributary! He raves, or through some moody passage creeps Plotting new mischief—out again he leaps Into broad light, and sends, through regions airy, That voice which soothed the Nuns while on the steeps They knelt in prayer, or sang to blissful Mary. That union ceased: then, cleaving easy walks Through crags, and smoothing paths beset with danger, Came studious Taste; and many a pensive Stranger Dreams on the banks, and to the river talks. What change shall happen next to Nunnery Dell? Canal, and Viaduct, and Railway, tell!

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XLI steamboats, viaducts, and railways

Motions and Means, on land and sea at war With old poetic feeling, not for this, Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss! Nor shall your presence, howsoe’er it mar The loveliness of Nature, prove a bar

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  “The chain of Crossfell, which parts Cumberland and Westmore-land from Northumberland and Durham.” WW â•… “At Corby, a few miles below Nunnery, the Eden is crossed by a magnificent viaduct; and another of these works is thrown over a deep glen or ravine at a very short distance from the main stream.” WW

508â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To the Mind’s gaining that prophetic sense Of future change, that point of vision whence May be discovered what in soul ye are. In spite of all that beauty may disown In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace Her lawful offspring in Man’s art; and Time, Pleased with your triumphs o’er his brother Space, Accepts from your bold hands the proffered crown Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime.

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XLII Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord With the baronial castle’s sterner mien; Union significant of God adored, And charters won and guarded by the sword Of ancient honour; whence that goodly state Of Polity which wise men venerate, And will maintain, if God his help afford. Hourly the democratic torrent swells; For airy promises and hopes suborned The strength of backward-looking thoughts is scorned. Fall if ye must, ye Towers and Pinnacles, With what ye symbolise; authentic Story Will say, Ye disappeared with England’s Glory!

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XLIII to the earl of lonsdale

“Magistratus indicat virum.”

Lonsdale! it were unworthy of a Guest, Whose heart with gratitude to thee inclines, If he should speak, by fancy touched, of signs On thy Abode harmoniously imprest,   “This sonnet was written immediately after certain trials, which took place at the Cumberland Assizes, when the Earl of Lonsdale, in consequence of repeated and long continued attacks upon his character, through the local press, had thought it right to prosecute the conductors and proprietors of three several journals. A verdict of libel was given in one case; and in the others, the prosecutions were withdrawn, upon the individuals retracting and disavowing the charges, expressing regret that they had been made, and promising to abstain from the like in future.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 509 Yet be unmoved with wishes to attest How in thy mind and moral frame agree Fortitude and that christian Charity Which, filling, consecrates the human breast. And if the Motto on thy ’scutcheon teach With truth, “The Magistracy shows the Man:” That searching test thy public course has stood; As will be owned alike by bad and good, Soon as the measuring of life’s little span Shall place thy virtues out of Envy’s reach.

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XLIV to cordelia m——, hallsteads, ullswater

Not in the mines beyond the western main, You tell me, Delia! was the metal sought, Which a fine skill, of Indian growth, has wrought Into this flexible yet faithful Chain; Nor is it silver of romantic Spain You say, but from Helvellyn’s depths was brought, Our own domestic mountain. Thing and thought Mix strangely; trifles light, and partly vain, Can prop, as you have learnt, our nobler being: Yes, Lady, while about your neck is wound (Your casual glance oft meeting) this bright cord, What witchery, for pure gifts of inward seeing, Lurks in it, Memory’s Helper, Fancy’s Lord, For precious tremblings in your bosom found!

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XLV conclusion

Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes To pace the ground, if path be there or none, While a fair region round the Traveller lies Which he forbears again to look upon; Pleased rather with some soft ideal scene, The work of Fancy, or some happy tone Of meditation, slipping in between The beauty coming and the beauty gone.

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510â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth If Thought and Love desert us, from that day Let us break off all commerce with the Muse; With Thought and Love companions of our way, Whate’er the senses take or may refuse, The Mind’s internal Heaven shall shed her dews Of inspiration on the humblest lay.

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[Poems not included in series as first published] The Monument Commonly Called Long Meg and Her Daughters, near the River Edenâ•› A weight of awe not easy to be borne Fell suddenly upon my Spiritâ•‚cast From the dread bosom of the unknown past, When first I saw that Sisterhood forlorn; And Her, whose massy strength and stature scorn The power of years—pre-eminent, and placed Apartâ•‚to overlook the circle vast. Speak, Giant-mother! tell it to the Morn While she dispels the cumbrous shades of night; Let the Moon hear, emerging from a cloud, At whose behest uprose on British ground Thy Progeny; in hieroglyphic round Forth-shadowing, some have deemed, the infinite, The inviolable God, that tames the proud!

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Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson’s Ossian Oft have I caught from fitful breeze Fragments of far-off melodies, With ear not coveting the whole, A part so charmed the pensive soul: While a dark storm before my sight Was yielding, on a mountain height

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  “The Daughters of Long Meg, placed in a perfect circle eighty yards in diameter, are seventy-two in number, and their height is from three feet to so many yards above ground; a little way out of the circle stands Long Meg herself, a single Stone, eighteen feet high. When the Author first saw this Monument, as he came upon it by surprise, he might overrate its importance as an object; but, though it will not bear a comparison with Stonehenge, he must say, he has not seen any other Relique of those dark ages, which can pretend to rival it in singularity and dignity of appearance.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 511 Loose vapours have I watched, that won Prismatic colours from the sun; Nor felt a wish that Heaven would show The image of its perfect bow. What need, then, of these finished Strains? Away with counterfeit Remains! An abbey in its lone recess, A temple of the wilderness, Wrecks though they be, announce with feeling The majesty of honest dealing. Spirit of Ossian! if imbound In language thou may’st yet be found, If aught (intrusted to the pen Or floating on the tongues of Men, Albeit shattered and impaired) Subsist thy dignity to guard, In concert with memorial claim Of old grey stone, and high-born name, That cleaves to rock or pillared cave, Where moans the blast, or beats the wave, Let Truth, stern Arbitress of all, Interpret that Original, And for presumptuous wrongs atone; Authentic words be given, or none! Time is not blind;—yet He, who spares Pyramid pointing to the Stars, Hath preyed with ruthless appetite On all that marked the primal flight Of the poetic ecstasy Into the land of mystery. No tongue is able to rehearse One measure, Orpheus! of thy verse; Musæus, stationed with his lyre Supreme among the Elysian quire, Is, for the dwellers upon earth, Mute as a Lark ere morning’s birth. Why grieve for these, though passed away The Music, and extinct the Lay? When thousands, by severer doom,

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512â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Full early to the silent tomb Have sunk, at Nature’s call; or strayed From hope or promise, self-betrayed; The garland withering on their brows; Stung with remorse for broken vows; Frantic—else how might they rejoice? And friendless, by their own sad choice. Hail, Bards of mightier grasp! on you I chiefly call, the chosen Few, Who cast not off the acknowledged guide, Who faltered not, nor turned aside; Whose lofty Genius could survive Privation, under sorrow thrive; In whom the fiery Muse revered The symbol of a snow-white beard, Bedewed with meditative tears Dropped from the lenient cloud of years. Brothers in Soul! though distant times Produced you, nursed in various climes, Ye, when the orb of life had waned, A plenitude of love retained; Hence, while in you each sad regret By corresponding love was met, Ye lingered among human kind, Sweet voices for the passing wind; Departing sunbeams, loth to stop, Though smiling on the last hill top! Such to the tender-hearted Maid Even ere her joys begin to fade; Such, haply, to the rugged Chief By Fortune crushed, or tamed by grief; Appears, on Morven’s lonely shore, Dim-gleaming through imperfect lore, The Son of Fingal; such was blind Mæonides of ampler mind; Such Milton, to the fountain head Of Glory by Urania led!

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 513 The Somnambulist 1 List, ye who pass by Lyulph’s Tower At eve; how softly then Doth Aira-force, that torrent hoarse, Speak from the woody glen! Fit music for a solemn vale! And holier seems the ground To him who catches on the gale The spirit of a mournful tale, Embodied in the sound.

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2 Not far from that fair site whereon The Pleasure-house is reared, As Story says, in antique days, A stern-brow’d house appeared; Foil to a jewel rich in light There set, and guarded well; Cage for a bird of plumage bright, Sweet-voiced, nor wishing for a flight Beyond her native dell.

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3 To win this bright bird from her cage, To make this gem their own, Came Barons bold, with store of gold, And Knights of high renown; But one she prized, and only One; Sir Eglamore was he; Full happy season, when was known, Ye Dales and Hills! to you alone Their mutual loyalty—

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4 Known chiefly, Aira! to thy glen, Thy brook, and bowers of holly;   “A pleasure-house built by the late Duke of Norfolk upon the banks of Ullswater. FORCE is the word used in the Lake District for Water-fall.” WW

514â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where Passion caught what Nature taught, That all but Love is folly; Where Fact with Fancy stooped to play, Doubt came not, nor regret; To trouble hours that winged their way, As if through an immortal day Whose sun could never set.

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5 But in old times Love dwelt not long Sequester’d with repose; Best throve the fire of chaste desire, Fanned by the breath of foes. “A conquering lance is beauty’s test, “And proves the Lover true;” So spake Sir Eglamore, and pressed The drooping Emma to his breast, And looked a blind adieu.

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6 They parted.—Well with him it fared Through wide-spread regions errant; A knight of proof in love’s behoof, The thirst of fame his warrant: And she her happiness can build On woman’s quiet hours; Though faint, compared with spear and shield, The solace beads and masses yield, And needlework and flowers.

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7 Yet blest was Emma when she heard Her Champion’s praise recounted; Though brain would swim, and eyes grow dim, And high her blushes mounted; Or when a bold heroic lay She warbled from full heart: Delightful blossoms for the May Of absence! but they will not stay, Born only to depart.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 515 8 Hope wanes with her, while lustre fills Whatever path he chooses; As if his orb, that owns no curb, Received the light hers loses. He comes not back; an ampler space Requires for nobler deeds; He ranges on from place to place, Till of his doings is no trace But what her fancy breeds.

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9 His fame may spread, but in the past Her spirit finds its centre; Clear sight she has of what he was, And that would now content her. “Still is he my devoted knight?” The tear in answer flows; Month falls on month with heavier weight; Day sickens round her, and the night Is empty of repose.

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10 In sleep she sometimes walked abroad, Deep sighs with quick words blending, Like that pale Queen whose hands are seen With fancied spots contending; But she is innocent of blood,— The moon is not more pure That shines aloft, while through the wood She thrids her way, the sounding Flood Her melancholy lure!

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11 While ’mid the fern-brake sleeps the doe, And owls alone are waking, In white arrayed, glides on the Maid The downward pathway taking, That leads her to the torrent’s side And to a holly bower;

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516â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth By whom on this still night descried? By whom in that lone place espied? By thee, Sir Eglamore! 12 A wandering Ghost, so thinks the Knight, His coming step has thwarted, Beneath the boughs that heard their vows, Within whose shade they parted. Hush, hush, the busy Sleeper see! Perplexed her fingers seem, As if they from the holly tree Green twigs would pluck, as rapidly Flung from her to the stream.

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13 What means the Spectre? Why intent To violate the Tree, Thought Eglamore, by which I swore Unfading constancy? Here am I, and to-morrow’s sun, To her I left, shall prove That bliss is ne’er so surely won As when a circuit has been run Of valour, truth, and love.

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14 So from the spot whereon he stood, He moved with stealthy pace; And, drawing nigh, with his living eye, He recognised the face; And whispers caught, and speeches small, Some to the green-leaved tree, Some muttered to the torrent-fall,— “Roar on, and bring him with thy call; “I heard, and so may he!” 15 Soul-shattered was the Knight, nor knew If Emma’s Ghost it were,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 517 Or boding Shade, or if the Maid Her very self stood there. He touched, what followed who shall tell? The soft touch snapped the thread Of slumber—shrieking back she fell, And the Stream whirled her down the dell Along its foaming bed.

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16 In plunged the Knight! when on firm ground The rescued Maiden lay, Her eyes grew bright with blissful light, Confusion passed away; She heard, ere to the throne of grace Her faithful Spirit flew, His voice; beheld his speaking face, And, dying, from his own embrace, She felt that he was true.

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17 So was he reconciled to life: Brief words may speak the rest; Within the dell he built a cell, And there was Sorrow’s guest; In hermits’ weeds repose he found, From vain temptations free; Beside the torrent dwelling—bound By one deep heart-controlling sound, And awed to piety.

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18 Wild stream of Aira, hold thy course, Nor fear memorial lays, Where clouds that spread in solemn shade, Are edged with golden rays! Dear art thou to the light of Heaven, Though minister of sorrow; Sweet is thy voice at pensive Even; And thou, in Lovers’ hearts forgiven, Shalt take thy place with Yarrow!

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518â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Stanzas suggested in a steam-boat off st. bees’ heads, on the coast of cumberland

[St. Bees’ Heads, anciently called the Cliff of Baruth, are a conspicuous seamark for all vessels sailing in the N.E. Parts of the Irish Sea. In a bay, one side of which is formed by the southern headland, stands the village of St. Bees; a place distinguished, from very early times, for its religious and scholastic foundations. “St. Bees,” say Nicholson and Burns, “had its name from Bega, an holy woman from Ireland, who is said to have founded here, about the year of our Lord 650, a small monastery, where afterwards a church was built in memory of her. “The aforesaid religious house, being destroyed by the Danes, was restored by William de Meschiens, son of Ranulph, and brother of Ranulph de Meschiens, first Earl of Cumberland after the Conquest; and made a cell of a prior and six Benedictine monks to the Abbey of St. Mary at York.” Several traditions of miracles, connected with the foundation of the first of these religious houses, survive among the people of the neighbourhood; one of which is alluded to in the following Stanzas; and another, of a somewhat bolder and more peculiar character, has furnished the subject of a spirited poem by the Rev. R. Parkinson, M.A., late Divinity Lecturer of St. Bees’ College, and now Fellow of the Collegiate Church of Manchester. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Archbishop Grindal founded a free school at St. Bees, from which the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland have derived great benefit; and recently, under the patronage of the Earl of Lonsdale, a college has been established there for the education of ministers for the English Church. The old Conventual Church has been repaired under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Ainger, the Head of the College; and is well worthy of being visited by any strangers who might be led to the neighbourhood of this celebrated spot. The form of stanza in the following Piece, and something in the style of versification, are adopted from the “St. Monica,” a poem of much beauty upon a monastic subject, by Charlotte Smith: a lady to whom English verse is under greater obligations, than are likely to be either acknowledged or remembered. She wrote little, and that little unambitiously, but with true feeling for nature.]

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 519 Stanzas suggested in a steam-boat off st. bees’ heads

1 If Life were slumber on a bed of down, Toil unimposed, vicissitude unknown, Sad were our lot: no Hunter of the Hare Exults like him whose javelin from the lair Has roused the Lion; no one plucks the Rose, Whose proffered beauty in safe shelter blows ’Mid a trim garden’s summer luxuries, With joy like his who climbs on hands and knees, For some rare Plant, yon Headland of St. Bees.

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2 This independence upon oar and sail, This new indifference to breeze or gale, This straight-lined progress, furrowing a flat lea, And regular as if locked in certainty, Depress the hours. Up, Spirit of the Storm! That Courage may find something to perform; That Fortitude, whose blood disdains to freeze At Danger’s bidding, may confront the seas, Firm as the towering Headlands of St. Bees.

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3 Dread Cliff of Baruth! that wild wish may sleep, Bold as if Men and Creatures of the Deep Breathed the same Element: too many wrecks Have struck thy sides, too many ghastly decks Hast thou looked down upon, that such a thought Should here be welcome, and in verse enwrought: With thy stern aspect better far agrees Utterance of thanks that we have past with ease, As Millions thus shall do, the Headlands of St. Bees. 4 Yet, while each useful Art augments her store, What boots the gain if Nature should lose more?

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520â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And Wisdom, that once held a Christian place In Man’s intelligence sublimed by grace? When Bega sought of yore the Cumbrian coast, Tempestuous winds her holy errand cross’d; As high and higher heaved the billows, faith Grew with them, mightier than the powers of death. She knelt in prayer—the waves their wrath appease; And, from her vow well weighed in Heaven’s decrees, Rose, where she touched the strand, the Chauntry of St. Bees.

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5 “Cruel of heart were they, bloody of hand,” Who in these Wilds then struggled for command; The strong were merciless, without hope the weak; Till this bright Stranger came, fair as Day-break, And as a Cresset true that darts its length Of beamy lustre from a tower of strength; Guiding the Mariner through troubled seas, And cheering oft his peaceful reveries, Like the fixed Light that crowns yon headland of St. Bees.

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6 To aid the Votaress, miracles believed Wrought in men’s minds, like miracles achieved; So piety took root; and Song might tell What humanizing Virtues round her Cell Sprang up, and spread their fragrance wide around; How savage bosoms melted at the sound Of gospel-truth enchained in harmonies Wafted o’er waves, or creeping through close trees, From her religious Mansion of St. Bees.

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7 When her sweet Voice, that instrument of love, Was glorified, and took its place, above The silent stars, among the angelic Quire, Her Chauntry blazed with sacrilegious fire, And perished utterly; but her good deeds Had sown the spot that witnessed them with seeds

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 521 Which lay in earth expectant, till a breeze With quickening impulse answered their mute pleas, And lo! a statelier Pile, the Abbey of St. Bees.

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8 There were the naked clothed, the hungry fed; And Charity extended to the Dead Her intercessions made for the soul’s rest Of tardy Penitents; or for the best Among the good (when love might else have slept, Sickened, or died) in pious memory kept. Thanks to the austere and simple Devotees, Who, to that service bound by venial fees, Kept watch before the Altars of St. Bees.

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9 Were not, in sooth, their Requiems sacred ties Woven out of passion’s sharpest agonies, Subdued, composed, and formalized by art, To fix a wiser sorrow in the heart? The prayer for them whose hour was past away Said to the Living, profit while ye may! A little part, and that the worst, he sees Who thinks that priestly cunning holds the keys That best unlock the secrets of St. Bees.

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10 Conscience, the timid being’s inmost light, Hope of the dawn and solace of the night, Cheers these Recluses with a steady ray In many an hour when judgement goes astray. Ah! scorn not hastily their rule who try Earth to despise, and flesh to mortify; Consume with zeal, in wingèd extacies Of prayer and praise forget their rosaries, Nor hear the loudest surges of St. Bees.

  For WW’s note on “sacred ties” see the notes at the end of this volume.

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522â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth 11 Yet none so prompt to succour and protect The forlorn Traveller, or Sailor wrecked On the bare coast; nor do they grudge the boon Which staff and cockle hat and sandal shoon Claim for the Pilgrim: and, though chidings sharp May sometimes greet the strolling Minstrel’s harp, It is not then when, swept with sportive ease, It charms a feast-day throng of all degrees, Brightening the archway of revered St. Bees. 12 How did the Cliffs and echoing Hills rejoice What time the Benedictine Brethren’s voice, Imploring, or commanding with meet pride, Summoned the Chiefs to lay their feuds aside, And under one blest ensign serve the Lord In Palestine. Advance, indignant Sword! Flaming till thou from Panym hands release That Tomb, dread centre of all sanctities Nursed in the quiet Abbey of St. Bees.

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13 On, Champions, on!—But mark! the passing Day Submits her intercourse to milder sway, With high and low whose busy thoughts from far Follow the fortunes which they may not share. While in Judea Fancy loves to roam, She helps to make a Holy-land at home: The Star of Bethlehem from its sphere invites To sound the crystal depth of maiden rights; And wedded life, through scriptural mysteries, Heavenward ascends with all her charities, Taught by the hooded Celibates of St. Bees. 14 Who with the ploughshare clove the barren moors, And to green meadows changed the swampy shores? Thinned the rank woods; and for the cheerful Grange

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 523 Made room where Wolf and Boar were used to range? Who taught, and showed by deeds, that gentler chains Should bind the Vassal to his Lord’s domains? The thoughtful Monks, intent their God to please, For Christ’s dear sake, by human sympathies Poured from the bosom of thy Church, St. Bees! 15 But all availed not; by a mandate given Through lawless will the Brotherhood was driven Forth from their cells;—their ancient House laid low In Reformation’s sweeping overthrow. But now once more the local Heart revives, The inextinguishable Spirit strives. Oh may that Power who hushed the stormy seas, And cleared a way for the first Votaries, Prosper the new-born College of St. Bees!

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16 Alas! the Genius of our age from Schools Less humble draws her lessons, aims, and rules. To Prowess guided by her insight keen Matter and Spirit are as one Machine; Boastful Idolatress of formal skill She in her own would merge the eternal will: Expert to move in paths that Newton trod, From Newton’s Universe would banish God. Better, if Reason’s triumphs match with these, Her flight before the bold credulities That furthered the first teaching of St. Bees.

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Memorials of a Tour in Italy. 1837â•› Memorials of a Tour in Italy 1837 To Henry Crabb Robinson. Companion! by whose buoyant Spirit cheered, To whose experience trusting, day by day Treasures I gained with zeal that neither feared The toils nor felt the crosses of the way, These records take, and happy should I be Were but the Gift a meet Return to thee For kindnesses that never ceased to flow, And prompt self-sacrifice to which I owe Far more than any heart but mine can know. W. Wordsworth.

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Rydal Mount, â•… Feb. 14th, 1842.

The Tour of which the following Poems are very inadequate remembrances was shortened by report, too well founded, of the prevalence of Cholera at Naples. To make some amends for what was reluctantly left unseen in the South of Italy, we visited the Tuscan Sanctuaries among the Apennines, and the principal Italian Lakes among the Alps. Neither of those lakes, nor of Venice, is there any notice in these Poems, chiefly because I have touched upon them elsewhere. See, in particular, “Descriptive Sketches,” “Memorials of a Tour on the Continent in 1820,” and a Sonnet upon the extinction of the Venetian Republic.

Musings Near Aquapendente april

1837â•›

Ye Apennines! with all your fertile vales   WW’s notes are those published with the series in Poems, Chiefly of Early and Late Years, 1842. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820–1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 731–739, and 795–809.   WW’s notes are those published with the series in Poems, Chiefly of Early and Late

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 525 Deeply embosomed, and your winding shores Of either sea, an Islander by birth, A Mountaineer by habit, would resound Your praise, in meet accordance with your claims Bestowed by Nature, or from man’s great deeds Inherited:—presumptuous thought!—it fled Like vapour, like a towering cloud dissolved. Not, therefore, shall my mind give way to sadness;— Yon snow-white torrent-fall, plumb down it drops Yet ever hangs or seems to hang in air, Lulling the leisure of that high perched town, Aquapendente, in her lofty site Its neighbour and its namesake—town, and flood Forth flashing out of its own gloomy chasm Bright sunbeams—the fresh verdure of this lawn Strewn with grey rocks, and on the horizon’s verge, O’er intervenient waste, through glimmering haze, Unquestionably kenned, that cone-shaped hill With fractured summit, no indifferent sight To travellers, from such comforts as are thine, Bleak Radicofani! escaped with joy— These are before me; and the varied scene May well suffice, till noon-tide’s sultry heat Relax, to fix and satisfy the mind Passive yet pleased. What! with this Broom in flower Close at my side. She bids me fly to greet Her sisters, soon like her to be attired With golden blossoms opening at the feet Of my own Fairfield. The glad greeting given, Given with a voice and by a look returned Of old companionship, Time counts not minutes Ere, from accustomed paths, familiar fields, The local Genius hurries me aloft, Transported over that cloud-wooing hill, Seat Sandal, a fond suitor of the clouds, With dream-like smoothness, to Helvellyn’s top, There to alight upon crisp moss and range,

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Years, 1842. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820–1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 731–739, and 795–809.

526â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Obtaining ampler boon, at every step, Of visual sovereignty—hills multitudinous, (Not Apennine can boast of fairer) hills Pride of two nations, wood and lake and plains, And prospect right below of deep coves shaped By skeleton arms, that, from the mountain’s trunk Extended, clasp the winds, with mutual moan Struggling for liberty, while undismayed The shepherd struggles with them. Onward thence And downward by the skirt of Greenside fell, And by Glenridding-screes, and low Glencoign, Places forsaken now, but loving still The muses, as they loved them in the days Of the old minstrels and the border bards.— But here am I fast bound;—and let it pass, The simple rapture;—who that travels far To feed his mind with watchful eyes could share Or wish to share it?—One there surely was, “The Wizard of the North,” with anxious hope Brought to this genial climate, when disease Preyed upon body and mind—yet not the less Had his sunk eye kindled at those dear words That spake of bards and minstrels; and his spirit Had flown with mine to old Helvellyn’s brow, Where once together, in his day of strength, We stood rejoicing, as if earth were free From sorrow, like the sky above our heads. â•… Years followed years, and when, upon the eve Of his last going from Tweed-side, thought turned, Or by another’s sympathy was led, To this bright land, Hope was for him no friend, Knowledge no help; Imagination shaped No promise. Still, in more than ear-deep seats, Survives for me, and cannot but survive The tone of voice which wedded borrowed words To sadness not their own, when, with faint smile Forced by intent to take from speech its edge, He said, “When I am there, although ’tis fair,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 527 “Twill be another Yarrow.” Prophecy More than fulfilled, as gay Campania’s shores Soon witnessed, and the city of seven hills, Her sparkling fountains, and her mouldering tombs; And more than all, that Eminence which showed Her splendors, seen, not felt, the while he stood A few short steps (painful they were) apart From Tasso’s Convent-haven, and retired grave. â•… Peace to their Spirits! why should Poesy Yield to the lure of vain regret, and hover In gloom on wings with confidence outspread To move in sunshine?—Utter thanks, my Soul! Tempered with awe, and sweetened by compassion For them who in the shades of sorrow dwell, That I—so near the term to human life Appointed by man’s common heritage, Frail as the frailest, one withal (if that Deserve a thought) but little known to fame— Am free to rove where Nature’s loveliest looks, Art’s noblest relics, history’s rich bequests, Failed to reanimate and but feebly cheered The whole world’s Darling—free to rove at will O’er high and low, and if requiring rest, Rest from enjoyment only. Thanks poured forth For what thus far hath blessed my wanderings, thanks Fervent but humble as the lips can breathe Where gladness seems a duty—let me guard Those seeds of expectation which the fruit Already gathered in this favoured Land Enfolds within its core. The faith be mine, That He who guides and governs all, approves When gratitude, though disciplined to look Beyond these transient spheres, doth wear a crown Of earthly hope put on with trembling hand;

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  “These words were quoted to me from “Yarrow Unvisited,” by Sir Walter Scott when I visited him at Abbotsford, a day or two before his departure for Italy: and the affecting condition in which he was when he looked upon Rome from the Janicular Mount, was reported to me by a lady who had the honour of conducting him thither.” WW For Yarrow Unvisited, see vol. 2 of this edition.

528â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Nor is least pleased, we trust, when golden beams, Reflected through the mists of age, from hours Of innocent delight, remote or recent, Shoot but a little way—’tis all they can— Into the doubtful future. Who would keep Power must resolve to cleave to it through life, Else it deserts him, surely as he lives. Saints would not grieve nor guardian angels frown If one—while tossed, as was my lot to be, In a frail bark urged by two slender oars Over waves rough and deep, that, when they broke Dashed their white foam against the palace walls Of Genoa the superb—should there be led To meditate upon his own appointed tasks, However humble in themselves, with thoughts Raised and sustained by memory of Him Who oftentimes within those narrow bounds Rocked on the surge, there tried his spirit’s strength And grasp of purpose, long ere sailed his ship To lay a new world open. Nor less prized Be those impressions which incline the heart To mild, to lowly, and to seeming weak, Bend that way her desires. The dew, the storm— The dew whose moisture fell in gentle drops On the small hyssop destined to become, By Hebrew ordinance devoutly kept, A purifying instrument—the storm That shook on Lebanon the cedar’s top, And as it shook, enabling the blind roots Further to force their way, endowed its trunk With magnitude and strength fit to uphold The glorious temple—did alike proceed From the same gracious will, were both an offspring Of bounty infinite. Between Powers that aim Higher to lift their lofty heads, impelled By no profane ambition, Powers that thrive By conflict, and their opposites, that trust

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 529 In lowliness—a mid-way tract there lies Of thoughtful sentiment for every mind Pregnant with good. Young, Middle-aged, and Old, From century on to century, must have known The emotion—nay, more fitly were it said— The blest tranquillity that sunk so deep Into my spirit, when I paced, enclosed In Pisa’s Campo Santo, the smooth floor Of its Arcades paved with sepulchral slabs, And through each window’s open fret-work looked O’er the blank Area of sacred earth Fetched from Mount Calvary, or haply delved In precincts nearer to the Saviour’s tomb, By hands of men, humble as brave, who fought For its deliverance—a capacious field That to descendants of the dead it holds And to all living mute memento breathes, More touching far than aught which on the walls Is pictured, or their epitaphs can speak, Of the changed City’s long-departed power, Glory, and wealth, which, perilous as they are, Here did not kill, but nourished, Piety. And, high above that length of cloistral roof, Peering in air and backed by azure sky, To kindred contemplations ministers The Baptistery’s dome, and that which swells From the Cathedral pile; and with the twain Conjoined in prospect mutable or fixed (As hurry on in eagerness the feet, Or pause) the summit of the Leaning-tower. Not less remuneration waits on him Who having left the Cemetery stands In the Tower’s shadow, of decline and fall Admonished not without some sense of fear, Fear that soon vanishes before the sight Of splendor unextinguished, pomp unscathed, And beauty unimpaired. Grand in itself, And for itself, the assemblage, grand and fair To view, and for the mind’s consenting eye

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530â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A type of age in man, upon its front Bearing the world-acknowledged evidence Of past exploits, nor fondly after more Struggling against the stream of destiny, But with its peaceful majesty content. —Oh what a spectacle at every turn The Place unfolds, from pavement skinned with moss, Or grass-grown spaces, where the heaviest foot Provokes no echoes, but must softly tread; Where Solitude with Silence paired stops short Of Desolation, and to Ruin’s scythe Decay submits not. But where’er my steps Shall wander, chiefly let me cull with care Those images of genial beauty, oft Too lovely to be pensive in themselves But by reflexion made so, which do best, And fitliest serve to crown with fragrant wreaths Life’s cup when almost filled with years, like mine. —How lovely robed in forenoon light and shade, Each ministering to each, didst thou appear Savona, Queen of territory fair As aught that marvellous coast thro’ all its length Yields to the Stranger’s eye. Remembrance holds As a selected treasure thy one cliff, That, while it wore for melancholy crest A shattered Convent, yet rose proud to have Clinging to its steep sides a thousand herbs And shrubs, whose pleasant looks gave proof how kind The breath of air can be where earth had else Seemed churlish. And behold, both far and near, Garden and field all decked with orange bloom, And peach and citron, in Spring’s mildest breeze Expanding; and, along the smooth shore curved Into a natural port, a tideless sea, To that mild breeze with motion and with voice Softly responsive; and, attuned to all Those vernal charms of sight and sound, appeared Smooth space of turf which from the guardian fort

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 531 Sloped seaward, turf whose tender April green, In coolest climes too fugitive, might even here Plead with the sovereign Sun for longer stay Than his unmitigated beams allow, Nor plead in vain, if beauty could preserve, From mortal change, aught that is born on earth Or doth on time depend. While on the brink Of that high Convent-crested cliff I stood, Modest Savona! over all did brood A pure poetic Spirit—as the breeze, Mild—as the verdure, fresh—the sunshine, bright, Thy gentle Chiabrera!—not a stone, Mural or level with the trodden floor, In Church or Chapel, if my curious quest Missed not the truth, retains a single name Of young or old, warrior, or saint, or sage, To whose dear memories his sepulchral verse Paid simple tribute, such as might have flowed From the clear spring of a plain English heart, Say rather, one in native fellowship With all who want not skill to couple grief With praise, as genuine admiration prompts. The grief, the praise, are severed from their dust, Yet in his page the records of that worth Survive, uninjured;—glory then to words, Honour to word-preserving Arts, and hail Ye kindred local influences that still, If Hope’s familiar whispers merit faith, Await my steps when they the breezy height Shall range of philosophic Tusculum; Or Sabine vales explored inspire a wish To meet the shade of Horace by the side Of his Bandusian fount; or I invoke His presence to point out the spot where once He sate, and eulogized with earnest pen Peace, leisure, freedom, moderate desires;

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â•… “If any English reader should be desirous of knowing how far I am justified in thus describing the epitaphs of Chiabrera, he will find translated specimens of them in the 5th volume of my poems.” WW

532â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And all the immunities of rural life Extolled, behind Vacuna’s crumbling fane. Or let me loiter, soothed with what is given, Nor asking more on that delicious Bay, Parthenope’s Domain—Virgilian haunt, Illustrated with never-dying verse, And, by the Poet’s laurel-shaded tomb, Age after age to Pilgrims from all lands Endeared. And who—if not a man as cold In heart as dull in brain—while pacing ground Chosen by Rome’s legendary Bards, high minds Out of her early struggles well inspired To localize heroic acts—could look Upon the spots with undelighted eye, Though even to their last syllable the Lays And very names of those who gave them birth Have perished?—Verily, to her utmost depth, Imagination feels what Reason fears not To recognize, the lasting virtue lodged In those bold fictions that, by deeds assigned To the Valerian, Fabian, Curian Race, And others like in fame, created Powers With attributes from History derived, By Poesy irradiate, and yet graced, Through marvellous felicity of skill, With something more propitious to high aims Than either, pent within her separate sphere, Can oft with justice claim. And not disdaining Union with those primeval energies To virtue consecrate, stoop ye from your height Christian Traditions! at my Spirit’s call Descend, and, on the brow of ancient Rome As she survives in ruin, manifest Your glories mingled with the brightest hues Of her memorial halo, fading, fading, But never to be extinct while Earth endures. O come, if undishonoured by the prayer,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 533 From all her Sanctuaries!—Open for my feet Ye Catacombs, give to mine eyes a glimpse Of the Devout, as, mid your glooms convened For safety, they of yore enclasped the Cross On knees that ceased from trembling, or intoned Their orisons with voices half-suppressed, But sometimes heard, or fancies to be heard, Even at this hour. And thou Mamertine prison, Into that vault receive me from whose depth Issues, revealed in no presumptuous vision, Albeit lifting human to divine, A Saint, the Church’s Rock, the mystic Keys Grasped in his hand; and lo! with upright sword Prefiguring his own impendent doom, The Apostle of the Gentiles; both prepared To suffer pains with heathen scorn and hate Inflicted;—blessed Men, for so to Heaven They follow their dear Lord! Time flows—nor winds, Nor stagnates, nor precipitates his course, But many a benefit borne upon his breast For human-kind sinks out of sight, is gone, No one knows how; nor seldom is put forth An angry arm that snatches good away, Never perhaps to reappear. The Stream Has to our generation brought and brings Innumerable gains; yet we, who now Walk in the light of day, pertain full surely To a chilled age, most pitiably shut out From that which is and actuates, by forms, Abstractions, and by lifeless fact to fact Minutely linked with diligence uninspired, Unrectified, unguided, unsustained, By godlike insight. To this fate is doomed Science, wide-spread and spreading still as be Her conquests, in the world of sense made known. So with the internal mind it fares; and so With morals, trusting, in contempt or fear

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534â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of vital principle’s controlling law, To her pur-blind guide Expediency; and so Suffers religious faith. Elate with view Of what is won, we overlook or scorn The best that should keep pace with it, and must, Else more and more the general mind will droop, Even as if bent on perishing. There lives No faculty within us which the Soul Can spare, and humblest earthly Weal demands, For dignity not placed beyond her reach, Zealous co-operation of all means Given or acquired, to raise us from the mire, And liberate our hearts from low pursuits. By gross Utilities enslaved we need More of ennobling impulse from the past, If to the future aught of good must come Sounder and therefore holier than the ends Which, in the giddiness of self applause, We covet as supreme. O grant the crown That Wisdom wears, or take his treacherous staff From Knowledge!—If the Muse, whom I have served This day, be mistress of a single pearl Fit to be placed in that pure diadem; Then, not in vain, under these chesnut boughs Reclined, shall I have yielded up my soul To transports from the secondary founts Flowing of time and place, and paid to both Due homage; nor shall fruitlessly have striven, By love of beauty moved, to enshrine in verse Accordant meditations, which in times Vexed and disordered, as our own, may shed Influence, at least among a scattered few, To soberness of mind and peace of heart Friendly; as here to my repose hath been This flowering broom’s dear neighbourhood, the light And murmur issuing from yon pendent flood, And all the varied landscape. Let us now Rise, and to-morrow greet magnificent Rome.   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 535 I the pine of monte mario at rome

I saw far off the dark top of a Pine Look like a cloud—a slender stem the tie That bound it to its native earth—poised high ’Mid evening hues, along the horizon line, Striving in peace each other to outshine. But when I learned the Tree was living there, Saved from the sordid axe by Beaumont’s care, Oh, what a gush of tenderness was mine! The rescued Pine-tree, with its sky so bright And cloud-like beauty, rich in thoughts of home, Death-parted friends, and days too swift in flight, Supplanted the whole majesty of Rome (Then first apparent from the Pincian Height) Crowned with St. Peter’s everlasting Dome.

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II at rome

Is this, ye Gods, the Capitolian Hill? Yon petty Steep in truth the fearful Rock, Tarpeian named of yore, and keeping still That name, a local Phantom proud to mock The Traveller’s expectation?—Could our Will Destroy the ideal Power within, ’twere done Thro’ what men see and touch,—slaves wandering on, Impelled by thirst of all but Heaven-taught skill. Full oft, our wish obtained, deeply we sigh; Yet not unrecompensed are they who learn, From that depression raised, to mount on high With stronger wing, more clearly to discern Eternal things; and, if need be, defy Change, with a brow not insolent, though stern.

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  “Within a couple of hours of my arrival at Rome, I saw from Monte Pincio, the Pine tree as described in the sonnet; and, while expressing admiration at the beauty of its appearance, I was told by an acquaintance of my fellow-traveller, who happened to join us at the moment, that a price had been paid for it by the late Sir G. Beaumont, upon condition that the proprietor should not act upon his known intention of cutting it down.” WW

536â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth III at rome.—regrets.—in allusion to niebuhr and other modern historians

Those old credulities, to nature dear, Shall they no longer bloom upon the stock Of History, stript naked as a rock ’Mid a dry desert? What is it we hear? The glory of Infant Rome must disappear, Her morning splendors vanish, and their place Know them no more. If Truth, who veiled her face With those bright beams yet hid it not, must steer Henceforth a humbler course perplexed and slow; One solace yet remains for us who came Into this world in days when story lacked Severe research, that in our hearts we know How, for exciting youth’s heroic flame, Assent is power, belief the soul of fact.

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IV continued

Complacent Fictions were they, yet the same Involved a history of no doubtful sense, History that proves by inward evidence From what a precious source of truth it came. Ne’er could the boldest Eulogist have dared Such deeds to paint, such characters to frame, But for coeval sympathy prepared To greet with instant faith their loftiest claim. None but a noble people could have loved Flattery in Ancient Rome’s pure-minded style: Not in like sort the Runic Scald was moved; He, nursed ’mid savage passions that defile Humanity, sang feats that well might call For the blood-thirsty mead of Odin’s riotous Hall.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 537 V plea for the historian

Forbear to deem the Chronicler unwise, Ungentle, or untouched by seemly ruth, Who, gathering up all that Time’s envious tooth Has spared of sound and grave realities, Firmly rejects those dazzling flatteries, Dear as they are to unsuspecting Youth, That might have drawn down Clio from the skies Her rights to claim, and vindicate the truth. Her faithful Servants while she walked with men Were they who, not unmindful of her Sire All-ruling Jove, whate’er their theme might be Revered her Mother, sage Mnemosyne, And, at the Muse’s will, invoked the lyre To animate, but not mislead, the pen.

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VI at rome

They—who have seen the noble Roman’s scorn Break forth at thought of laying down his head, When the blank day is over, garreted In his ancestral palace, where, from morn To night, the desecrated floors are worn By feet of purse-proud strangers; they—who have read In one meek smile, beneath a peasant’s shed, How patiently the weight of wrong is borne; They—who have heard thy lettered sages treat Of freedom, with mind grasping the whole theme From ancient Rome, downwards through that bright dream Of Commonwealths, each city a starlike seat Of rival glory; they—fallen Italy— Nor must, nor will, nor can, despair of Thee!

 

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“Quem virum—lyra— —sumes celebrare Clio?” WW quotes part of Horace’s Odes, I, xii, ll. 1–3 (“What man, Clio, will you choose to praise with your lyre”).

538â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth VII near rome, in sight of st. peter’s

Long has the dew been dried on tree and lawn; O’er man and beast a not unwelcome boon Is shed, the languor of approaching noon; To shady rest withdrawing or withdrawn Mute are all creatures, as this couchant fawn, Save insect-swarms that hum in air afloat, Save that the Cock is crowing, a shrill note, Startling and shrill as that which roused the dawn. Heard in that hour, or when, as now, the nerve Shrinks from the voice as from a mis-timed thing, Oft for a holy warning may it serve, Charged with remembrance of his sudden sting, His bitter tears, whose name the Papal Chair And yon resplendent church are proud to bear.

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VIII at albano

Days passed—and Monte Calvo would not clear His head from mist; and, as the wind sobbed through Albano’s dripping Ilex avenue, My dull forebodings in a Peasant’s ear Found casual vent. She said, “Be of good cheer; Our yesterday’s procession did not sue In vain; the sky will change to sunny blue, Thanks to our Lady’s grace.” I smiled to hear, But not in scorn:—the Matron’s Faith may lack The heavenly sanction needed to ensure Its own fulfilment; but her upward track Stops not at this low point, nor wants the lure Of flowers the Virgin without fear may own, For by her Son’s blest hand the seed was sown. IX Near Anio’s stream, I spied a gentle Dove Perched on an olive branch, and heard her cooing ’Mid new-born blossoms that soft airs were wooing,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 539 While all things present told of joy and love. But restless Fancy left that olive grove To hail the exploratory Bird renewing Hope for the few, who, at the world’s undoing, On the great flood were spared to live and move. O bounteous Heaven! signs true as dove and bough Brought to the ark are coming evermore, Even though men seek them not, but, while they plough This sea of life without a visible shore, Do neither promise ask nor grace implore In what alone is ours, the vouchsafed Now.

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X from the alban hills, looking towards rome

Forgive, illustrious Country! these deep sighs, Heaved less for thy bright plains and hills bestrown With monuments decayed or overthrown, For all that tottering stands or prostrate lies, Than for like scenes in moral vision shown, Ruin perceived for keener sympathies; Faith crushed, yet proud of weeds, her gaudy crown; Virtues laid low, and mouldering energies. Yet why prolong this mournful strain?—Fallen Power, Thy fortunes, twice exalted, might provoke Verse to glad notes prophetic of the hour When thou, uprisen, shalt break thy double yoke, And enter, with prompt aid from the Most High, On the third stage of thy great destiny.

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XI near the lake of thrasymene

When here with Carthage Rome to conflict came, An earthquake, mingling with the battle’s shock, Checked not its rage; unfelt the ground did rock, Sword dropped not, javelin kept its deadly aim.— Now all is sun-bright peace. Of that day’s shame, Or glory, not a vestige seems to endure, Save in this Rill that took from blood the name

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XII near the same lake

For action born, existing to be tried, Powers manifold we have that intervene To stir the heart that would too closely screen Her peace from images to pain allied. What wonder if at midnight, by the side Of Sanguinetto or broad Thrasymene, The clang of arms is heard, and phantoms glide, Unhappy ghosts in troops by moonlight seen; And singly thine, O vanquished Chief! whose corse, Unburied, lay hid under heaps of slain: But who is He?—the Conqueror. Would he force His way to Rome? Ah, no,—round hill and plain Wandering, he haunts, at fancy’s strong command, This spot—his shadowy death-cup in his hand.

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The Cuckoo at Laverna may

25th, 1837

List—’twas the Cuckoo.—O with what delight Heard I that voice! and catch it now, though faint, Far off and faint, and melting into air, Yet not to be mistaken. Hark again!   “Laverna is one of the three famous Convents called the three Tuscan Sanctuaries— Camaldoli and Vallombrosa are the other two. Laverna was founded by S Francis of Assissi, and the Monks are Franciscans.—In the following verses I am much indebted to a passage in a Letter of one of Mrs Corbelins relations—which passage was suggested by my own Poem, to the Cuckoo. You will see some account of these sanctuaries in the Quarto Volume which you will recollect Lady Charlotte Bury sent me—It contains, as well as her poem, drawings by her Husband.— transcribed at Munich April 18th [18]37” Manuscript note in WW’s hand prefixed to poem in DC MS. 141.

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 541 Those louder cries give notice that the Bird, Although invisible as Echo’s self, Is wheeling hitherward. Thanks, happy Creature, For this unthought-of greeting! While allured From vale to hill, from hill to vale led on, We have pursued, through various lands, a long And pleasant course; flower after flower has blown, Embellishing the ground that gave them birth With aspects novel to my sight; but still Most fair, most welcome, when they drank the dew In a sweet fellowship with kinds beloved, For old remembrance sake. And oft—where Spring Display’d her richest blossoms among files Of orange-trees bedecked with glowing fruit Ripe for the hand, or under a thick shade Of Ilex, or, if better suited to the hour, The lightsome Olive’s twinkling canopy— Oft have I heard the Nightingale and Thrush Blending as in a common English grove Their love-songs; but, where’er my feet might roam, Whate’er assemblages of new and old, Strange and familiar, might beguile the way, A gratulation from that vagrant Voice Was wanting;—and most happily till now. â•… For see, Laverna! mark the far-famed Pile, High on the brink of that precipitous rock, Implanted like a Fortress, as in truth It is, a Christian Fortress, garrisoned In faith and hope, and dutiful obedience, By a few Monks, a stern society, Dead to the world and scorning earth-born joys. Nay—though the hopes that drew, the fears that drove, St. Francis, far from Man’s resort, to abide Among these sterile heights of Apennine, Bound him, nor, since he raised yon House, have ceased To bind his spiritual Progeny, with rules Stringent as flesh can tolerate and live; His milder Genius (thanks to the good God

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542â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth That made us) over those severe restraints Of mind, that dread heart-freezing discipline, Doth sometimes here predominate, and works By unsought means for gracious purposes; For earth through heaven, for heaven, by changeful earth, Illustrated, and mutually endeared. â•… Rapt though He were above the power of sense, Familiarly, yet out of the cleansed heart Of that once sinful Being overflowed On sun, moon, stars, the nether elements, And every shape of creature they sustain, Divine affections; and with beast and bird (Stilled from afar—such marvel story tells— By casual outbreak of his passionate words, And from their own pursuits in field or grove Drawn to his side by look or act of love Humane, and virtue of his innocent life) He wont to hold companionship so free, So pure, so fraught with knowledge and delight, As to be likened in his Followers’ minds To that which our first Parents, ere the fall From their high state darkened the Earth with fear, Held with all Kinds in Eden’s blissful bowers. â•… Then question not that, ’mid the austere Band, Who breathe the air he breathed, tread where he trod, Some true Partakers of his loving spirit Do still survive, and, with those gentle hearts Consorted, Others, in the power, the faith, Of a baptized imagination, prompt To catch from Nature’s humblest monitors Whate’er they bring of impulses sublime. â•… Thus sensitive must be the Monk, though pale With fasts, with vigils worn, depressed by years, Whom in a sunny glade I chanced to see, Upon a pine-tree’s storm-uprooted trunk, Seated alone, with forehead sky-ward raised, Hands clasped above the crucifix he wore Appended to his bosom, and lips closed

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 543 By the joint pressure of his musing mood And habit of his vow. That ancient Man— Nor haply less the Brother whom I marked, As we approached the Convent gate, aloft Looking far forth from his aerial cell, A young Ascetic—Poet, Hero, Sage, He might have been, Lover belike he was— If they received into a conscious ear The notes whose first faint greeting startled me, Whose sedulous iteration thrilled with joy My heart—may have been moved like me to think, Ah! not like me who walk in the world’s ways, On the great Prophet, styled the Voice of One Crying amid the wilderness, and given, Now that their snows must melt, their herbs and flowers Revive, their obstinate winter pass away, That awful name to Thee, thee, simple Cuckoo, Wandering in solitude, and evermore Foretelling and proclaiming, ere thou leave This thy last haunt beneath Italian skies To carry thy glad tidings over heights Still loftier, and to climes more near the Pole. â•… Voice of the Desert, fare-thee-well; sweet Bird! If that substantial title please thee more, Farewell!—but go thy way, no need hast thou Of a good wish sent after thee; from bower To bower as green, from sky to sky as clear, Thee gentle breezes waft—or airs that meet Thy course and sport around thee softly fan— Till Night, descending upon hill and vale, Grants to thy mission a brief term of silence, And folds thy pinions up in blest repose. XIII at the convent of camaldoliâ•›

Grieve for the Man who hither came bereft, And seeking consolation from above;   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.

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544â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Nor grieve the less that skill to him was left To paint this picture of his lady-love: Can she, a blessed saint, the work approve? And O, good brethren of the cowl, a thing So fair, to which with peril he must cling, Destroy in pity, or with care remove. That bloom—those eyes—can they assist to bind Thoughts that would stray from Heaven? The dream must cease To be; by Faith, not sight, his soul must live; Else will the enamoured Monk too surely find How wide a space can part from inward peace The most profound repose his cell can give.

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XIV continued

The world forsaken, all its busy cares And stirring interests shunned with desperate flight, All trust abandoned in the healing might Of virtuous action; all that courage dares, Labour accomplishes, or patience bears— Those helps rejected, they, whose minds perceive How subtly works man’s weakness, sighs may heave For such a One beset with cloistral snares. Father of Mercy! rectify his view, If with his vows this object ill agree; Shed over it thy grace, and so subdue Imperious passion in a heart set free; That earthly love may to herself be true, Give him a soul that cleaveth unto thee.

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XV at the eremite or upper convent of camaldoliâ•›

What aim had they, the Pair of Monks, in size   “In justice to the Benedictines of Camaldoli, by whom strangers are so hospitably entertained, I feel obliged to notice, that I saw among them no other figures at all resembling, in size and complexion, the two Monks described in this Sonnet. What was their office, or the motive which brought them to this place of mortification, which they could not have approached without being carried in this or some other way, a feeling of delicacy prevented me from inquiring. An account has before been given of the hermitage they were

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 545 Enormous, dragged, while side by side they sate, By panting steers up to this convent gate? How, with empurpled cheeks and pampered eyes, Dare they confront the lean austerities Of Brethren who, here fixed, on Jesu wait In sackcloth, and God’s anger deprecate Through all that humbles flesh and mortifies? Strange contrast!—verily the world of dreams, Where mingle, as for mockery combined, Things in their very essences at strife, Shows not a sight incongruous as the extremes That everywhere, before the thoughtful mind, Meet on the solid ground of waking life.

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At Vallombrosa Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa, where Etrurian shades High over-arch’d embower. Paradise Lost

“Vallombrosa—I longed in thy shadiest wood To slumber, reclined on the moss-covered floor!” Fond wish that was granted at last, and the Flood, That lulled me asleep, bids me listen once more. Its murmur how soft! as it falls down the steep, Near that Cell—yon sequestered Retreat high in air— Where our Milton was wont lonely vigils to keep For converse with God, sought through study and prayer. The Monks still repeat the tradition with pride, And its truth who shall doubt? for his Spirit is here; In the cloud-piercing rocks doth her grandeur abide, In the pines pointing heavenward her beauty austere; In the flower-besprent meadows his genius we trace Turned to humbler delights, in which youth might confide, That would yield him fit help while prefiguring that Place

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about to enter. It was visited by us towards the end of the month of May; yet snow was lying thick under the pine-trees, within a few yards of the gate.” WW   For WW’s note see the notes at the end of this volume.   “See for the two first lines, “Stanzas composed in the Simplon Pass.” WW (see the poem by this title, above).

546â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where, if Sin had not entered, Love never had died. When with life lengthened out came a desolate time, And darkness and danger had compassed him round, With a thought he might flee to these haunts of his prime, And here once again a kind of shelter be found. And let me believe that when nightly the Muse Would waft him to Sion, the glorified hill, Here also, on some favoured height, they would choose To wander, and drink inspiration at will. Vallombrosa! of thee I first heard in the page Of that holiest of Bards; and the name for my mind Had a musical charm, which the winter of age And the changes it brings had no power to unbind. And now, ye Miltonian shades! under you I repose, nor am forced from sweet fancy to part, While your leaves I behold and the brooks they will strew, And the realised vision is clasped to my heart. Even so, and unblamed, we rejoice as we may In Forms that must perish, frail objects of sense; Unblamed—if the Soul be intent on the day When the Being of Beings shall summon her hence. For he and he only with wisdom is blest Who, gathering true pleasures wherever they grow, Looks up in all places, for joy or for rest, To the Fountain whence Time and Eternity flow.

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XVI at florence

Under the shadow of a stately Pile, The dome of Florence, pensive and alone, Nor giving heed to aught that passed the while, I stood, and gazed upon a marble stone, The laurelled Dante’s favourite seat. A throne, In just esteem, it rivals; though no style Be there of decoration to beguile The mind, depressed by thought of greatness flown. As a true man, who long had served the lyre,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 547 I gazed with earnestness, and dared no more. But in his breast the mighty Poet bore A Patriot’s heart, warm with undying fire. Bold with the thought, in reverence I sate down, And, for a moment, filled that empty Throne.

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XVII before the picture of the baptist, by raphael, in the gallery at florence

The Baptist might have been ordain’d to cry Forth from the towers of that huge Pile, wherein His Father served Jehovah; but how win Due audience, how for aught but scorn defy The obstinate pride and wanton revelry Of the Jerusalem below, her sin And folly, if they with united din Drown not at once mandate and prophecy? Therefore the Voice spake from the Desert, thence To her, as to her opposite in peace, Silence, and holiness, and innocence, To her and to all Lands its warning sent, Crying with earnestness that might not cease, Make straight a highway for the Lord—repent!

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XVIII at florence.—from michael angelo

Rapt above earth by power of one fair face, Hers in whose sway alone my heart delights, I mingle with the blest on those pure heights Where Man, yet mortal, rarely finds a place. With Him who made the work that work accords So well, that by its help and through his grace I raise my thoughts, inform my deeds and words, Clasping her beauty in my soul’s embrace. Thus, if from two fair eyes mine cannot turn, I feel how in their presence doth abide Light which to God is both the way and guide; And, kindling at their lustre, if I burn,

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548â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth My noble fire emits the joyful ray That through the realms of glory shines for aye. XIX at florence.—from m. angelo

Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load, And loosened from the world, I turn to Thee; Shun, like a shattered bark, the storm, and flee To thy protection for a safe abode. The crown of thorns, hands pierced upon the tree, The meek, benign, and lacerated face, To a sincere repentance promise grace, To the sad soul give hope of pardon free. With justice mark not Thou, O Light divine, My fault, nor hear it with thy sacred ear; Neither put forth that way thy arm severe; Wash with thy blood my sins; thereto incline More readily the more my years require Help, and forgiveness speedy and entire.

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Among the Ruins of a Convent in the Apennines Ye trees! whose slender roots entwine â•… Altars that piety neglects; Whose infant arms enclasp the shrine â•… Which no devotion now respects; If not a straggler from the herd Here ruminate, nor shrouded bird, Chaunting her low-voiced hymn, take pride In aught that ye would grace or hide— How sadly is your love misplaced, Fair trees, your bounty run to waste! And ye, wild Flowers! that no one heeds, And ye—full often spurned as weeds— In beauty clothed, or breathing sweetness From fractured arch and mouldering wall— Do but more touchingly recal Man’s headstrong violence and Time’s fleetness, And make the precincts ye adorn

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 549 Appear to sight still more forlorn. XX at bologna, in remembrance of the late insurrections

Ah why deceive ourselves! by no mere fit Of sudden passion roused shall men attain True freedom where for ages they have lain Bound in a dark abominable pit, With life’s best sinews more and more unknit. Here, there, a banded few who loathe the chain May rise to break it: effort worse than vain For thee, O great Italian nation, split Into those jarring fractions.—Let thy scope Be one fixed mind for all; thy rights approve To thy own conscience gradually renewed; Learn to make Time the father of wise Hope; Then trust thy cause to the arm of Fortitude, The light of Knowledge, and the warmth of Love.

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XXI continued

Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean On Patience coupled with such slow endeavour, That long-lived servitude must last for ever. Perish the grovelling few, who, prest between Wrongs and the terror of redress, would wean Millions from glorious aims. Our chains to sever Let us break forth in tempest now or never!— What, is there then no space for golden mean And gradual progress?—Twilight leads to day, And, even within the burning zones of earth, The hastiest sunrise yields a temperate ray; The softest breeze to fairest flowers gives birth: Think not that Prudence dwells in dark abodes, She scans the future with the eye of gods.

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550â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XXII concluded

As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow And wither, every human generation Is to the Being of a mighty nation, Locked in our world’s embrace through weal and woe; Thought that should teach the zealot to forego Rash schemes, to abjure all selfish agitation, And seek through noiseless pains and moderation The unblemished good they only can bestow. Alas! with most, who weigh futurity Against time present, passion holds the scales: Hence equal ignorance of both prevails, And nations sink; or, struggling to be free, Are doomed to flounder on, like wounded whales Tossed on the bosom of a stormy sea.

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XXIII in lombardy

See, where his difficult way that Old Man wins Bent by a load of Mulberry-leaves!—most hard Appears his lot, to the small Worm’s compared, For whom his toil with early day begins. Acknowledging no task-master, at will (As if her labour and her ease were twins) She seems to work, at pleasure to lie still, And softly sleeps within the thread she spins. So fare they—the Man serving as her Slave. Ere long their fates do each to each conform: Both pass into new being,—but the Worm, Transfigured, sinks into a hopeless grave; His volant Spirit will, he trusts, ascend To bliss unbounded, glory without end. XXIV after leaving italy

Fair Land! Thee all men greet with joy; how few,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 551 Whose souls take pride in freedom, virtue, fame, Part from thee without pity dyed in shame: I could not—while from Venice we withdrew, Led on till an Alpine strait confined our view Within its depths, and to the shore we came Of Lago Morto, dreary sight and name, Which o’er sad thoughts a sadder colouring threw. Italia! on the surface of thy spirit, (Too aptly emblemed by that torpid lake) Shall a few partial breezes only creep?— Be its depths quickened; what thou dost inherit Of the world’s hopes, dare to fulfil; awake, Mother of Heroes, from thy death-like sleep!

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XXV continued

As indignation mastered grief, my tongue Spake bitter words; words that did ill agree With those rich stores of Nature’s imagery, And divine Art, that fast to memory clung— Thy gifts, magnificent Region, ever young In the sun’s eye, and in his sister’s sight How beautiful! how worthy to be sung In strains of rapture, or subdued delight! I feign not; witness that unwelcome shock That followed the first sound of German speech, Caught the far-winding barrier Alps among. In that announcement, greeting seemed to mock Parting; the casual word had power to reach My heart, and filled that heart with conflict strong.

[Poems not included in series as first published] The Pillar of Trajan Where Towers are crushed, and unforbidden weeds O’er mutilated arches shed their seeds; And Temples, doomed to milder change, unfold A new magnificence that vies with old;

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552â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Firm in its pristine majesty hath stood A votive column, spared by fire and flood;— And, though the passions of Man’s fretful race Have never ceased to eddy round its base, Not injured more by touch of meddling hands Than a lone Obelisk, ’mid Nubian sands, Or aught in Syrian deserts left to save, From death the memory of the Good and Brave. Historic figures round the shaft embost Ascend, with lineaments in air not lost: Still as he turns, the charmed Spectator sees Group winding after group with dream-like ease; Triumphs in sunbright gratitude displayed, Or softly stealing into modest shade. —So, pleased with purple clusters to entwine Some lofty elm-tree, mounts the daring vine; The woodbine so, with spiral grace, and breathes Wide-spreading odours from her flowery wreaths. â•… Borne by the Muse from rills in shepherds’ ears Murmuring but one smooth story for all years, I gladly commune with the mind and heart Of him who thus survives by classic art, His actions witness, venerate his mien, And study Trajan as by Pliny seen; Behold how fought the Chief whose conquering sword Stretched far as Earth might own a single lord; In the delight of moral prudence schooled, How feelingly at home the Sovereign ruled; Best of the good—in Pagan faith allied To more than Man, by virtue deified. â•… Memorial Pillar! ’mid the wrecks of Time Preserve thy charge with confidence sublime— The exultations, pomps, and cares of Rome, Whence half the breathing world received its doom; Things that recoil from language; that, if shewn By apter pencil, from the light had flown. A Pontiff, Trajan here the Gods implores, There greets an Embassy from Indian shores;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 553 Lo! he harangues his cohorts—there the storm Of battle meets him in authentic form! Unharnessed, naked, troops of Moorish horse Sweep to the charge; more high, the Dacian force, To hoof and finger mailed;—yet, high or low, None bleed, and none lie prostrate but the foe; In every Roman, through all turns of fate, Is Roman dignity inviolate; Spirit in Him pre-eminent, who guides, Supports, adorns, and over all presides; Distinguished only by inherent State From honoured Instruments that round him wait; Rise as he may, his grandeur scorns the test Of outward symbol, nor will deign to rest On aught by which another is deprest. —Alas! that One thus disciplined could toil To enslave whole Nations on their native soil; So emulous of Macedonian fame, That, when his age was measured with his aim, He drooped, ’mid else unclouded victories, And turned his eagles back with deep-drawn sighs: O weakness of the Great! O folly of the Wise! â•… Where now the haughty Empire that was spread With such fond hope? her very speech is dead; Yet glorious Art the sweep of Time defies, And Trajan still, through various enterprise, Mounts, in this fine illusion, tow’rd the skies: Still are we present with the imperial Chief, Nor cease to gaze upon the bold Relief Till Rome, to silent marble unconfined, Becomes with all her years a vision of the Mind.

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Composed on May-morning, 1838â•› If with old love of you, dear Hills! I share   “Here and infra; see Forsythe.” WW drew details for the poem from Joseph Forsyth’s Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters during an Excursion [in] Italy in 1802 [and 1803] (London, 1816).   In his Poems (1845) WW paired this sonnet with “Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun,” published in Poems of Early and Late Years (1842). See Composed on the Same Morning, below.

554â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth New love of many a rival image brought From far, forgive the wanderings of my thought: Nor art thou wrong’d, sweet May! when I compare Thy present birth-morn with thy last, so fair, So rich to me in favours. For my lot Then was, within the famed Egerian Grot To sit and muse, fanned by its dewy air Mingling with thy soft breath! That morning, too, Warblers I heard their joy unbosoming Amid the sunny, shadowy, Colyseum; Heard them, unchecked by aught of sombre hue, For victories there won by flower-crowned Spring, Chant in full choir their innocent Te Deum.

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555

Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death. In Series. I suggested by the view of lancaster castle (on the road from the south)

This Spot—at once unfolding sight so fair Of sea and land, with yon grey towers that still Rise up as if to lord it over air— Might soothe in human breasts the sense of ill, Or charm it out of memory; yea, might fill The heart with joy and gratitude to God For all his bounties upon man bestowed: Why bears it then the name of “Weeping Hill”? Thousands, as toward yon old Lancastrian Towers, A prison’s crown, along this way they past For lingering durance or quick death with shame, From this bare eminence thereon have cast Their first look—blinded as tears fell in showers Shed on their chains; and hence that doleful name.

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II Tenderly do we feel by Nature’s law For worst offenders: though the heart will heave With indignation, deeply moved we grieve, In after thought, for Him who stood in awe Neither of God nor man, and only saw, Lost wretch, a horrible device enthroned On proud temptations, till the victim groaned Under the steel his hand had dared to draw. But O, restrain compassion, if its course, As oft befals, prevent or turn aside Judgments and aims and acts whose higher source Is sympathy with the unforewarned, who died Blameless—with them that shuddered o’er his grave, And all who from the law firm safety crave.

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  For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820–1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 865–868, and 878–879.

556â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth III The Roman Consul doomed his sons to die Who had betrayed their country. The stern word Afforded (may it through all time afford) A theme for praise and admiration high. Upon the surface of humanity He rested not; its depths his mind explored; He felt; but his parental bosom’s lord Was Duty,—Duty calmed his agony. And some, we know, when they by wilful act A single human life have wrongly taken, Pass sentence on themselves, confess the fact, And, to atone for it, with soul unshaken Kneel at the feet of Justice, and, for faith Broken with all mankind, solicit death.

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IV Is Death, when evil against good has fought With such fell mastery that a man may dare By deeds the blackest purpose to lay bare,— Is Death, for one to that condition brought, For him, or any one, the thing that ought To be most dreaded? Lawgivers, beware, Lest, capital pains remitting till ye spare The murderer, ye, by sanction to that thought Seemingly given, debase the general mind; Tempt the vague will tried standards to disown, Nor only palpable restraints unbind, But upon Honour’s head disturb the crown, Whose absolute rule permits not to withstand In the weak love of life his least command.

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V Not to the object specially designed, Howe’er momentous in itself it be, Good to promote or curb depravity, Is the wise Legislator’s view confined. His Spirit, when most severe, is oft most kind;

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 557 As all Authority in earth depends On Love and Fear, their several powers he blends, Copying with awe the one Paternal mind. Uncaught by processes in show humane, He feels how far the act would derogate From even the humblest functions of the State; If she, self-shorn of Majesty, ordain That never more shall hang upon her breath The last alternative of Life or Death.

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VI Ye brood of conscience—Spectres! that frequent The bad Man’s restless walk, and haunt his bed— Fiends in your aspect, yet beneficent In act, as hovering Angels when they spread Their wings to guard the unconsciousInnocent— Slow be the Statutes of the land to share A laxity that could not but impair Your power to punish crime, and so prevent. And ye, Beliefs! coiled serpent-like about The adage on all tongues, “Murder will out,” How shall your ancient warnings work for good In the full might they hitherto have shown, If for deliberate shedder of man’s blood Survive not Judgment that requires his own?

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VII Before the world had past her time of youth, While polity and discipline were weak, The precept eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, Came forth—a light, though but as of day-break, Strong as could then be borne. A Master meek Proscribed the spirit fostered by that rule, Patience his law, long-suffering his school, And love the end, which all through peace must seek. But lamentably do they err who strain His mandates, given rash impulse to controul And keep vindictive thirstings from the soul, So far that, if consistent in their scheme,

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558â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth They must forbid the State to inflict a pain, Making of social order a mere dream. VIII Fit retribution, by the moral code Determined, lies beyond the State’s embrace, Yet, as she may, for each peculiar case She plants well-measured terrors in the road Of wrongful acts. Downward it is and broad, And, the main fear once doomed to banishment, Far oftener then, bad ushering worse event, Blood would be spilt that in his dark abode Crime might lie better hid. And, should the change Take from the horror due to a foul deed, Pursuit and evidence so far must fail, And, guilt escaping, passion then might plead In angry spirits for her old free range, And the “wild justice of revenge” prevail.

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IX Though to give timely warning and deter Is one great aim of penalty, extend Thy mental vision further and ascend Far higher, else full surely thou shalt err. What is a State? The wise behold in her A creature born of time, that keeps one eye Fixed on the Statutes of Eternity, To which her judgments reverently defer. Speaking through Law’s dispassionate voice the State Endues her conscience with external life And being, to preclude or quell the strife Of individual will, to elevate The grovelling mind, the erring to recal, And fortify the moral sense of all. X Our bodily life, some plead, that life the shrine Of an immortal spirit, is a gift So sacred, so informed with light divine,

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 559 That no tribunal, though most wise to sift Deed and intent, should turn the Being adrift Into that world where penitential tear May not avail, nor prayer have for God’s ear A voice—that world whose veil no hand can lift For earthly sight. “Eternity and Time,” They urge, “have interwoven claims and rights Not to be jeopardised through foulest crime: The sentence rule by mercy’s heaven-born lights.” Even so; but measuring not by finite sense Infinite Power, perfect Intelligence.

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XI Ah, think how one compelled for life to abide Locked in a dungeon needs must eat the heart Out of his own humanity, and part With every hope that mutual cares provide; And, should a less unnatural doom confide In life-long exile on a savage coast, Soon the relapsing penitent may boast Of yet more heinous guilt, with fiercer pride. Hence thoughtful Mercy, Mercy sage and pure, Sanctions the forfeiture that Law demands, Leaving the final issue in His hands Whose goodness knows no change, whose love is sure, Who sees, foresees; who cannot judge amiss, And wafts at will the contrite soul to bliss.

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XII See the Condemned alone within his cell And prostrate at some moment when remorse Stings to the quick, and, with resistless force, Assaults the pride she strove in vain to quell. Then mark him, him who could so long rebel, The crime confessed, a kneeling Penitent Before the Altar, where the Sacrament Softens his heart, till from his eyes outwell Tears of salvation. Welcome death! while Heaven Does in this change exceedingly rejoice;

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560â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth While yet the solemn heed the State hath given Helps him to meet the last Tribunal’s voice In faith, which fresh offences, were he cast On old temptations, might for ever blast. XIII conclusion

Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound Of his own voice, who from the judgment-seat Sends the pale Convict to his last retreat In death; though Listeners shudder all around, They know the dread requital’s source profound; Nor is, they feel, its wisdom obsolete— (Would that it were!) the sacrifice unmeet For Christian Faith. But hopeful signs abound; The social rights of man breathe purer air; Religion deepens her preventive care; Then, moved by needless fear of past abuse, Strike not from Law’s firm hand that awful rod, But leave it thence to drop for lack of use: Oh, speed the blessed hour, Almighty God!

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XIV apology

The formal World relaxes her cold chain For One who speaks in numbers; ampler scope His utterance finds; and, conscious of the gain, Imagination works with bolder hope The cause of grateful reason to sustain; And, serving Truth, the heart more strongly beats Against all barriers which his labour meets In lofty place, or humble Life’s domain. Enough;—before us lay a painful road, And guidance have I sought in duteous love From Wisdom’s heavenly Father. Hence hath flowed Patience, with trust that, whatsoe’er the way Each takes in this high matter, all may move Cheered with the prospect of a brighter day.

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561

Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty and Order I composed after reading a newspaper of the day

“People! your chains are severing link by link; Soon shall the Rich be levelled down—the Poor Meet them half way.” Vain boast! for These, the more They thus would rise, must low and lower sink Till, by repentance stung, they fear to think; While all lie prostrate, save the tyrant few Bent in quick turns each other to undo, And mix the poison, they themselves must drink. Mistrust thyself, vain Country! cease to cry, “Knowledge will save me from the threatened woe.” For, if than other rash ones more thou know, Yet on presumptuous wing as far would fly Above thy knowledge as they dared to go, Thou wilt provoke a heavier penalty.

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II upon the late general fast. march,

Reluctant call it was; the rite delayed; And in the Senate some there were who doffed The last of their humanity, and scoffed At providential judgments, undismayed By their own daring. But the People prayed As with one voice; their flinty heart grew soft With penitential sorrow, and aloft Their spirit mounted, crying, “God us aid!” Oh that with aspirations more intense, Chastised by self-abasement more profound, This People, once so happy, so renowned For liberty, would seek from God defence Against far heavier ill, the pestilence

1832

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  WW’s notes are those published with the series in Poems, 1845. For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, 1820– 1845, ed. Geoffrey Jackson (2004), pp. 899–903, and 914–917.

562â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of revolution, impiously unbound! III Said Secrecy to Cowardice and Fraud, Falsehood and Treachery, in close council met, Deep under ground, in Pluto’s cabinet, “The frost of England’s pride will soon be thawed; “Hooded the open brow that overawed “Our schemes; the faith and honour, never yet “By us with hope encountered, be upset;— “For once I burst my bands, and cry, applaud!” Then whispered she, “The Bill is carrying out!” They heard, and, starting up, the Brood of Night Clapped hands, and shook with glee their matted locks; All Powers and Places that abhor the light Joined in the transport, echoed back their shout, Hurrah for ———, hugging his Ballot-box!

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IV Blest Statesman He, whose Mind’s unselfish will Leaves him at ease among grand thoughts; whose eye Sees that, apart from Magnanimity, Wisdom exists not; nor the humbler skill Of Prudence, disentangling good and ill With patient care. What tho’ assaults run high, They daunt not him who holds his ministry, Resolute, at all hazards, to fulfil Its duties;—prompt to move, but firm to wait,— Knowing, things rashly sought are rarely found; That, for the functions of an ancient State— Strong by her charters, free because imbound, Servant of Providence, not slave of Fate— Perilous is sweeping change, all chance unsound.

  “â•›‘All change is perilous, and all chance unsound.’ SPENSER.” WW

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 563 V in allusion to various recent histories and notices of the french revolution

Portentous change when History can appear As the cool Advocate of foul device; Reckless audacity extol, and jeer At consciences perplexed with scruples nice! They who bewail not, must abhor, the sneer Born of Conceit, Power’s blind Idolater; Or haply sprung from vaunting Cowardice Betrayed by mockery of holy fear. Hath it not long been said the wrath of Man Works not the righteousness of God? Oh bend, Bend, ye Perverse! to judgments from on High, Laws that lay under Heaven’s perpetual ban All principles of action that transcend The sacred limits of humanity.

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VI continued

Who ponders National events shall find An awful balancing of loss and gain, Joy based on sorrow, good with ill combined, And proud deliverance issuing out of pain And direful throes; as if the All-ruling Mind, With whose perfection it consists to ordain Volcanic burst, earthquake, and hurricane, Dealt in like sort with feeble human kind By laws immutable. But woe for him Who thus deceived shall lend an eager hand To social havoc. Is not Conscience ours, And Truth, whose eye guilt only can make dim; And Will, whose office, by divine command, Is to control and check disordered Powers?

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564â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth VII concluded

Long-favoured England! be not thou misled By monstrous theories of alien growth, Lest alien frenzy seize thee, waxing wroth, Self-smitten till thy garments reek dyed red With thy own blood, which tears in torrents shed Fail to wash out, tears flowing ere thy troth Be plighted, not to ease but sullen sloth, Or wan despair—the ghost of false hope fled Into a shameful grave. Among thy youth, My Country! if such warning be held dear, Then shall a Veteran’s heart be thrilled with joy, One who would gather from eternal truth, For time and season, rules that work to cheer— Not scourge, to save the People—not destroy

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VIII Men of the Western World! in Fate’s dark book Whence these opprobrious leaves of dire portent? Think ye your British Ancestors forsook Their native Land, for outrage provident; From unsubmissive necks the bridle shook To give, in their Descendants, freer vent And wider range to passions turbulent, To mutual tyranny a deadlier look? Nay, said a voice, soft as the south wind’s breath, Dive through the stormy surface of the flood To the great current flowing underneath; Explore the countless springs of silent good; So shall the truth be better understood, And thy grieved Spirit brighten strong in faith.

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  “These lines were written several years ago, when reports prevailed of cruelties committed in many parts of America, by men making a law of their own passions. A far more formidable, as being a more deliberate mischief, has appeared among those States which have lately broken faith with the public creditor in a manner so infamous. I cannot, however, but look at both evils under a similar relation to inherent good, and hope that the time is not distant when our brethren of the West will wipe off this stain from their name and nation.” WW

Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 565 IX to the pennsylvanians

Days undefiled by luxury or sloth, Firm self-denial, manners grave and staid, Rights equal, laws with cheerfulness obeyed, Words that require no sanction from an oath, And simple honesty a common growth— This high repute, with bounteous Nature’s aid, Won confidence, now ruthlessly betrayed At will, your power the measure of your troth!— All who revere the memory of Penn Grieve for the land on whose wild woods his name Was fondly grafted with a virtuous aim, Renounced, abandoned by degenerate Men For state-dishonour black as ever came To upper air from Mammon’s loathsome den.

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X at bologna, in remembrance of the late insurrections,

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Ah why deceive ourselves! by no mere fit Of sudden passion roused shall men attain True freedom where for ages they have lain Bound in a dark abominable pit, With life’s best sinews more and more unknit. Here, there, a banded few who loathe the chain May rise to break it: effort worse than vain For thee, O great Italian nation, split Into those jarring fractions.—Let thy scope Be one fixed mind for all; thy rights approve To thy own conscience gradually renewed; Learn to make Time the father of wise Hope; Then trust thy cause to the arm of Fortitude, The light of Knowledge, and the warmth of Love.

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566â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth XI continued ii

Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean On Patience coupled with such slow endeavour, That long-lived servitude must last for ever. Perish the grovelling few, who, prest between Wrongs and the terror of redress, would wean Millions from glorious aims. Our chains to sever Let us break forth in tempest now or never!— What, is there then no space for golden mean And gradual progress?—Twilight leads to day, And, even within the burning zones of earth, The hastiest sunrise yields a temperate ray; The softest breeze to fairest flowers gives birth: Think not that Prudence dwells in dark abodes, She scans the future with the eye of gods.

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XII concluded iii

As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow And wither, every human generation Is to the Being of a mighty nation, Locked in our world’s embrace through weal and woe; Thought that should teach the zealot to forego Rash schemes, to abjure all selfish agitation, And seek through noiseless pains and moderation The unblemished good they only can bestow. Alas! with most, who weigh futurity Against time present, passion holds the scales: Hence equal ignorance of both prevails, And nations sink; or, struggling to be free, Are doomed to flounder on, like wounded whales Tossed on the bosom of a stormy sea.

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Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems (1820–1845)â•… 567 XIII Young England—what is then become of Old, Of dear Old England? Think they she is dead, Dead to the very name? Presumption fed On empty air! That name will keep its hold In the true filial bosom’s inmost fold For ever.—The Spirit of Alfred, at the head Of all who for her rights watch’d, toil’d and bled, Knows that this prophecy is not too bold. What—how! shall she submit in will and deed To Beardless Boys—an imitative race, The servum pecus of a Gallic breed? Dear Mother! if thou must thy steps retrace, Go where at least meek Innocency dwells; Let Babes and Sucklings be thy oracles.

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XIV Feel for the wrongs to universal ken Daily exposed, woe that unshrouded lies; And seek the Sufferer in his darkest den, Whether conducted to the spot by sighs And moanings, or he dwells (as if the wren Taught him concealment) hidden from all eyes In silence and the awful modesties Of sorrow;—feel for all, as brother Men! Rest not in hope want’s icy chain to to thaw By casual boons and formal charities; Learn to be just, just through impartial law; Far as ye may, erect and equalise; And what ye cannot reach by statute, draw Each from his fountain of self-sacrifice!

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Last Poems (1821–1850) Decay of Piety Oft have I seen, ere Time had ploughed my cheek, Matrons and Sires—who, punctual to the call Of their loved Church, on Fast or Festival Through the long year the House of Prayer would seek: By Christmas snows, by visitation bleak Of Easter winds, unscared, from Hut or Hall They came to lowly bench or sculptured Stall, But with one fervour of devotion meek. I see the places where they once were known, And ask, surrounded even by kneeling crowds, Is ancient Piety for ever flown? Alas! even then they seemed like fleecy clouds That, struggling through the western sky, have won Their pensive light from a departed sun!

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“Not Love, nor War, nor the tumultuous swell” Not Love, nor War, nor the tumultuous swell Of civil conflict, nor the wrecks of change, Nor Duty struggling with afflictions strange, Not these alone inspire the tuneful shell; But where untroubled peace and concord dwell, There also is the Muse not loth to range, Watching the blue smoke of the elmy grange, Skyward ascending from the twilight dell. Meek aspirations please her, lone endeavour, And sage content, and placid melancholy; She loves to gaze upon a crystal river, Diaphanous, because it travels slowly; Soft is the music that would charm for ever; The flower of sweetest smell is shy and lowly.

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  For the sources of the reading text and the editor’s commentary, see Last Poems, 1821– 1850, ed. Jared Curtis, with Apryl Lee Denny and Jill Heydt-Stevenson, associate editors (1999).

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 569 A Parsonage in Oxfordshire Where holy ground begins—unhallowed ends, Is marked by no distinguishable line; The turf unites—the pathways intertwine; And, wheresoe’er the stealing footstep tends, Garden, and that Domain where Kindred, Friends, And Neighbours rest together, here confound Their several features—mingled like the sound Of many waters, or as evening blends With shady night. Soft airs, from shrub and flower, Waft fragrant greetings to each silent grave; Meanwhile between those Poplars, as they wave Their lofty summits, comes and goes a sky Bright as the glimpses of Eternity, To Saints accorded in their mortal hour.

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Recollection of the Portrait of King Henry Eighth, Trinity Lodge, Cambridge The imperial Stature, the colossal stride, Are yet before me; yet do I behold The broad full visage, chest of amplest mould, The vestments ’broidered with barbaric pride: And lo! a poniard, at the Monarch’s side, Hangs ready to be grasped in sympathy With the keen threatenings of that fulgent eye, Below the white-rimmed bonnet, far descried. Who trembles now at thy capricious mood? Mid those surrounding worthies, haughty King! We rather think, with grateful mind sedate, How Providence educeth, from the spring Of lawless will, unlooked-for streams of good, Which neither force shall check, nor time abate.

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[Translation of the Sestet of a Sonnet by Tasso] Camoëns, he the accomplished and the good, Gave to thy Fame a more illustrious flight Than that brave vessel though she sailed so far,   WW included this sonnet in his note to Pastoral Character, sonnet III.xi. of Ecclesiastical Sketches in 1822.

570â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Through him her course along the austral flood Is known to all beneath the polar star Through him the antipodes in thy name delight.

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“A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found” A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found, Who, while the flattering Zephyrs round them play, On “coignes of vantage” hang their nests of clay; How quickly from that aery hold unbound, Dust for oblivion! To the solid ground Of nature trusts the Mind that builds for aye; Convinced that there, there only, she can lay Secure foundations. As the year runs round, Apart she toils within the chosen ring; While the stars shine, or while day’s purple eye Is gently closing with the flowers of spring; Where even the motion of an Angel’s wing Would interrupt the intense tranquillity Of silent hills, and more than silent sky.

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“Queen and Negress chaste and fair!” Queen and Negress chaste and fair! â•… Christophe now is laid asleep Seated in a British Chair State in humbler manner keep â•… Shine for Clarkson’s pure delight â•… Negro Princess, ebon bright! Lay thy Diadem apart â•… Pomp has been a sad Deceiver Through thy Champion’s faithful heart Joy be poured, and thou the Giver â•… Thou that mak’st a day of night â•… Sable Princess, ebon bright! Let not “Wilby’s” holy shade â•… Interpose at Envy’s call, Hayti’s shining Queen was made To illumine Playford Hall â•… Bless it then with constant light â•… Negress excellently bright!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 571 [Epigrams on Byron’s Cain] i. “Critics, right honourable Bard! decree” Critics, right honourable Bard! decree Laurels to some, a nightshade wreath to thee, Whose Muse a sure though late revenge hath ta’en Of harmless Abel’s death by murdering Cain. ii. On Cain a Mystery dedicated to Sir Walter Scott A German Haggis––from Receipt Of him who cook’d “The death of Abel” And sent “warm–reeking rich” and sweet From Venice to Sir Walter’s table. iii. After reading a luscious scene of the above— The Wonder explained What! Adam’s eldest Son in this sweet strain! Yes—did you never hear of Sugar-Cain? iv. On a Nursery piece of the same, by a Scottish Bard— Dont wake little Enoch, Or he’ll give you a wee knock! For the pretty sweet Lad As he lies in his Cradle Is more like to his Dad Than a Spoon to a Ladle. “Thus far I write to please my Friend” Thus far I write to please my Friend; And now to please myself I end. “By Moscow self–devoted to a blaze” By Moscow self–devoted to a blaze Of dreadful sacrifice; by Russian blood

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572â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Lavished in fight with desperate hardihood; The unfeeling Elements no claim shall raise To rob our Human–nature of just praise For what she did and suffered. Pledges sure Of a deliverance absolute and pure She gave, if Faith might tread the beaten ways Of Providence. But now did the Most High Exalt his still small Voice;––to quell that Host Gathered his Power, a manifest Ally; He whose heaped waves confounded the proud boast Of Pharaoh, said to Famine, Snow, and Frost, Finish the strife by deadliest Victory!

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“These Vales were saddened with no common gloom” In the Burial-ground of this Church are deposited the Remains of Jemima A. D. second daughter of Sir Egerton Brydges Bart—of Lee Priory, Kent— who departed this life at Rydal May 25th 1822 Ag: 28 years. This memorial is erected by her afflicted husband Edwd Quillinan

These Vales were saddened with no common gloom When good Jemima perished in her bloom; When (such the awful will of heaven) she died By flames breathed on her from her own fire-side. On Earth we dimly see, and but in part We know, yet Faith sustains the sorrowing heart; And she, the pure, the patient and the meek, Might have fit Epitaph could feelings speak; If words could tell and monuments record, How treasures lost are inwardly deplored, No name by grief’s fond eloquence adorn’d, More than Jemima’s would be praised and mourn’d; The tender virtues of her blameless life, Bright in the Daughter, brighter in the Wife, And in the cheerful Mother brightest shone: That light hath past away—the will of God be done!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 573 To the Lady ———, on seeing the foundation preparing for the erection of

——— chapel, westmorelandâ•›

Blest is this Isle—our native Land; Where battlement and moated gate Are objects only for the hand Of hoary Time to decorate; Where shady hamlet, town that breathes Its busy smoke in social wreaths, No rampart’s stern defence require, Nought but the heaven-directed Spire, And steeple Tower (with pealing bells Far heard)—our only Citadels. O Lady! from a noble line Of Chieftains sprung, who stoutly bore The spear, yet gave to works divine A bounteous help in days of yore, (As records mouldering in the Dell Of Nightshade haply yet may tell) Thee kindred aspirations moved To build, within a Vale beloved, For Him upon whose high behests All peace depends, all safety rests. Well may the Villagers rejoice! Nor heat, nor cold, nor weary ways, Will be a hindrance to the voice That would unite in prayer and praise; More duly shall wild-wandering Youth Receive the curb of sacred truth, Shall tottering Age, bent earthward, hear The Promise, with uplifted ear; And all shall welcome the new ray Imparted to their Sabbath-day.

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  In 1840 the title became To the Lady Fleming, On Seeing the Foundation Preparing for the Erection of Rydal Chapel, Westmoreland.   “Beckangs Ghyll—or the Vale of Nightshade—in which stands St. Mary’s Abbey, in Low Furness.” WW

574â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Even Strangers, slackening here their pace, Shall hail this work of pious care, Lifting its front with modest grace To make a fair recess more fair; And to exalt the passing hour; Or soothe it, with a healing power Drawn from the Sacrifice fulfilled, Before this rugged soil was tilled, Or human habitation rose To interrupt the deep repose! Nor yet the corner stone is laid With solemn rite; but Fancy sees The tower time-stricken, and in shade Embosomed of coeval trees; Hears, o’er the lake, the warning clock As it shall sound with gentle shock At evening, when the ground beneath Is ruffled o’er with cells of Death; Where happy Generations lie, Here tutored for Eternity. Lives there a Man whose sole delights Are trivial pomp and city noise, Hardening a heart that loathes or slights What every natural heart enjoys? Who never caught a noon-tide dream From murmur of a running stream; Could strip, for aught the prospect yields To him, their verdure from the fields; And take the radiance from the clouds In which the Sun his setting shrouds. A Soul so pitiably forlorn, If such do on this earth abide, May season apathy with scorn, May turn indifference to pride, And still be not unblest—compared With him who grovels, self-debarred From all that lies within the scope Of holy faith and Christian hope;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 575 Or, shipwrecked, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may be lost. Alas! that such perverted zeal Should spread on Britain’s favoured ground! That public order, private weal, Should e’er have felt or feared a wound From champions of the desperate law Which from their own blind hearts they draw; Who tempt their reason to deny God, whom their passions dare defy, And boast that they alone are free Who reach this dire extremity! But turn we from these “bold bad” men; The way, mild Lady! that hath led Down to their “dark opprobrious den,” Is all too rough for Thee to tread. Softly as morning vapours glide Through Mosedale-cove from Carrock’s side, Should move the tenour of his song Who means to Charity no wrong; Whose offering gladly would accord With this day’s work, in thought and word. Heaven prosper it! may peace, and love, And hope, and consolation, fall, Through its meek influence, from above, And penetrate the hearts of all; All who, around the hallowed Fane, Shall sojourn in this fair domain; Grateful to Thee, while service pure, And ancient ordinance, shall endure, For opportunity bestowed To kneel together, and adore their God. On the Same Occasion Oh! gather whencesoe’er ye safely may The help which slackening Piety requires; Nor deem that he perforce must go astray Who treads upon the footmarks of his Sires.

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576╅ The Poems of William Wordsworth Our churches, invariably perhaps, stand east and west, but why is by few persons exactly known; nor, that the degree of deviation from due east often noticeable in the ancient ones was determined, in each particular case, by the point in the horizon, at which the sun rose upon the day of the Saint to whom the church was dedicated. These observances€of our Ancestors, and the causes of them, are the subject of the following stanzas.

When in the antique age of bow and spear And feudal rapine clothed with iron mail, Came Ministers of peace, intent to rear The mother Church in yon sequestered vale; Then, to her Patron Saint a previous rite Resounded with deep swell and solemn close, Through unremitting vigils of the night, Till from his couch the wished-for Sun uprose. He rose, and straight—as by divine command, They who had waited for that sign to trace Their work’s foundation, gave with careful hand To the high Altar its determined place; Mindful of Him who in the Orient born There lived, and on the cross his life resigned, And who, from out the regions of the Morn, Issuing in pomp, shall come to judge Mankind. So taught their creed;—nor failed the eastern sky, Mid these more awful feelings, to infuse The sweet and natural hopes that shall not die Long as the Sun his gladsome course renews.

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For us hath such prelusive vigil ceased; Yet still we plant, like men of elder days, Our Christian Altar faithful to the East, Whence the tall window drinks the morning rays; That obvious emblem giving to the eye Of meek devotion, which erewhile it gave, That symbol of the dayspring from on high, Triumphant o’er the darkness of the grave.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 577 Memory A pen—to register; a key— That winds through secret wards; Are well assigned to Memory By allegoric Bards. As aptly, also, might be given A Pencil to her hand; That, softening objects, sometimes even Outstrips the heart’s demand; That smooths foregone distress, the lines Of lingering care subdues, Long-vanished happiness refines, And clothes in brighter hues: Yet, like a tool of Fancy, works Those Spectres to dilate That startle Conscience, as she lurks Within her lonely seat. O! that our lives, which flee so fast, In purity were such, That not an image of the past Should fear that pencil’s touch!

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Retirement then might hourly look Upon a soothing scene, Age steal to his allotted nook, Contented and serene; With heart as calm as Lakes that sleep, In frosty moonlight glistening; Or mountain Rivers, where they creep Along a channel smooth and deep, To their own far-off murmurs listening. “First Floweret of the year is that which shows” First Floweret of the year is that which shows Its rival whiteness mid surrounding snows; To guide the shining company of heaven,

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578â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Brightest as first appears the star of Even; Upon imperial brows the richest gem Stands ever foremost in the diadem; How, then, could mortal so unfit engage To take his station in this leading page, For others marshal with his pen the way Which shall be trod in many a future day! Why was not some fair Lady call’d to write Dear words—for Memory characters of light— Lines which enraptur’d Fancy might explore And half create her image?—but no more; Strangers! forgive the deed, an unsought task, For what you look on, Friendship deigned to ask.

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“How rich that forehead’s calm expanse!” How rich that forehead’s calm expanse! How bright that Heaven-directed glance! —Waft her to Glory, wingèd Powers, Ere Sorrow be renewed, And intercourse with mortal hours Bring back a humbler mood! So looked Cecilia when she drew An Angel from his station; So looked—not ceasing to pursue Her tuneful adoration! But hand and voice alike are still; No sound here sweeps away the will That gave it birth;—in service meek One upright arm sustains the cheek, And one across the bosom lies— That rose, and now forgets to rise, Subdued by breathless harmonies Of meditative feeling; Mute strains from worlds beyond the skies, Through the pure light of female eyes Their sanctity revealing!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 579 A Flower Garden Tell me, ye Zephyrs! that unfold, While fluttering o’er this gay Recess, Pinions that fanned the teeming mould Of Eden’s blissful wilderness, Did only softly-stealing Hours There close the peaceful lives of flowers? Say, when the moving Creatures saw All kinds commingled without fear, Prevailed a like indulgent law For the still Growths that prosper here? Did wanton Fawn and Kid forbear The half-blown Rose, the Lily spare? Or peeped they often from their beds And prematurely disappeared, Devoured like pleasure ere it spreads A bosom to the Sun endeared? If such their harsh untimely doom, It falls not here on bud or bloom. All Summer long the happy Eve Of this fair Spot her flowers may bind, Nor e’er, with ruffled fancy, grieve, From the next glance she casts, to find That love for little Things by Fate Is rendered vain as love for great. Yet, where the guardian Fence is wound, So subtly is the eye beguiled It sees not nor suspects a Bound, No more than in some forest wild; Free as the light in semblance—crost Only by art in nature lost. And, though the jealous turf refuse By random footsteps to be prest, And feeds on never-sullied dews, Ye, gentle breezes from the West, With all the ministers of Hope,

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580â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Are tempted to this sunny slope! And hither throngs of Birds resort; Some, inmates lodged in shady nests, Some, perched on stems of stately port That nod to welcome transient guests; While Hare and Leveret, seen at play, Appear not more shut out than they. Apt emblem (for reproof of pride) This delicate Enclosure shows Of modest kindness, that would hide The firm protection she bestows; Of manners, like its viewless fence, Ensuring peace to innocence. Thus spake the moral Muse—her wing Abruptly spreading to depart, She left that farewell offering, Memento for some docile heart; That may respect the good old Age When Fancy was Truth’s willing Page; And Truth would skim the flowery glade, Though entering but as Fancy’s Shade.

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To ——— Let other Bards of Angels sing, â•… Bright Suns without a spot; But thou art no such perfect Thing; â•… Rejoice that thou art not! Such if thou wert in all men’s view, â•… A universal show, What would my Fancy have to do, â•… My Feelings to bestow? The world denies that Thou art fair; â•… So, Mary, let it be If nought in loveliness compare â•… With what thou art to me. â•… WW’s manuscript note identifies Mary Wordsworth as the addressee.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 581 True beauty dwells in deep retreats, â•… Whose veil is unremoved Till heart with heart in concord beats, â•… And the Lover is beloved.

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To ——— Look at the fate of summer Flowers, Which blow at daybreak, droop ere even-song; And, grieved for their brief date, confess that ours, Measured by what we are and ought to be, Measured by all that trembling we foresee, Is not so long! If human Life do pass away, Perishing yet more swiftly than the Flower, Whose frail existence is but of a day; What space hath Virgin’s Beauty to disclose Her sweets, and triumph o’er the breathing Rose? Not even an hour! The deepest grove whose foliage hid The happiest Lovers Arcady might boast, Could not the entrance of this thought forbid: O be thou wise as they, soul-gifted Maid! Nor rate too high what must so quickly fade, So soon be lost. Then shall Love teach some virtuous Youth “To draw out of the Object of his eyes,” The whilst on Thee they gaze in simple truth, Hues more exalted, “a refinèd Form,” That dreads not age, nor suffers from the worm, And never dies.

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To Rotha Q ——— Rotha, my Spiritual Child! this head was grey When at the sacred Font for Thee I stood;   WW’s manuscript note states that he addressed the poem to “dear friends” who were given to attaching undue importance to “personal beauty.” â•… Addressed to Rotha Quillinan, the daughter of WW’s son-in-law Edward and his first wife. She was named after the mountain stream of l. 9.

582â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Pledged till thou reach the verge of womanhood, And shalt become thy own sufficient stay: Too late, I feel, sweet Orphan! was the day For stedfast hope the contract to fulfil; Yet shall my blessing hover o’er thee still, Embodied in the music of this Lay, Breathed forth beside the peaceful mountain Stream Whose murmur soothed thy languid Mother’s ear After her throes, this Stream of name more dear Since thou dost bear it,—a memorial theme For others; for thy future self a spell To summon fancies out of Time’s dark cell.

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Composed among the Ruins of a Castle in North Wales Through shattered galleries, ’mid roofless halls, Wandering with timid footstep oft betrayed, The Stranger sighs, nor scruples to upbraid Old Time, though He, gentlest among the Thralls Of Destiny, upon these wounds hath laid His lenient touches, soft as light that falls, From the wan Moon, upon the Towers and Walls, Light deepening the profoundest sleep of shade. Relic of Kings! Wreck of forgotten Wars, To winds abandoned and the prying Stars, Time loves Thee! at his call the Seasons twine Luxuriant wreaths around thy forehead hoar; And, though past pomp no changes can restore, A soothing recompense, his gift, is Thine!

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To the Lady E. B. and the Hon. Miss P composed in the grounds of plass newidd, near llangollin, 1824 A Stream, to mingle with your favourite Dee, Along the Vale of Meditation flows; So styled by those fierce Britons, pleased to see In Nature’s face the expression of repose; Or haply there some pious Hermit chose To live and die, the peace of Heaven his aim; To whom the wild sequestered region owes, At this late day, its sanctifying name.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 583 Glyn Cafaillgaroch, in the Cambrian tongue, In ours the Vale of Friendship, let this spot Be named; where, faithful to a low-roofed Cot, On Deva’s banks, ye have abode so long; Sisters in love—a love allowed to climb, Even on this Earth, above the reach of Time!

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To the Torrent at the Devil’s Bridge, North Wales How art thou named? In search of what strange land From what huge height, descending? Can such force Of waters issue from a British source, Or hath not Pindus fed Thee, where the band Of Patriots scoop their freedom out, with hand Desperate as thine? Or come the incessant shocks From that young Stream, that smites the throbbing rocks Of Viamala? There I seem to stand, As in Life’s Morn; permitted to behold, From the dread chasm, woods climbing above woods In pomp that fades not, everlasting snows, And skies that ne’er relinquish their repose; Such power possess the Family of floods Over the minds of Poets, young or old!

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To ——— O dearer far than light and life are dear, Full oft our human foresight I deplore; Trembling, through my unworthiness, with fear That friends, by death disjoined, may meet no more! Misgivings, hard to vanquish or control, Mix with the day, and cross the hour of rest; While all the future, for thy purer soul, With “sober certainties” of love is blest. If a faint sigh, not meant for human ear, Tell that these words thy humbleness offend, Cherish me still—else faltering in the rear Of a steep march; uphold me to the end.   Addressed to Thomas Hutchinson, brother of Mary Wordsworth.

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584â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Peace settles where the Intellect is meek, And Love is dutiful in thought and deed; Through Thee communion with that Love I seek; The faith Heaven strengthens where he moulds the creed.

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The Contrast Within her gilded cage confined, I saw a dazzling Belle, A Parrot of that famous kind Whose name is Non-pareil. Like beads of glossy jet her eyes; And, smoothed by Nature’s skill, With pearl or gleaming agate vies Her finely-curvèd bill. Her plumy Mantle’s living hues In mass opposed to mass, Outshine the splendour that imbues The robes of pictured glass. And, sooth to say, an apter Mate Did never tempt the choice Of feathered Thing most delicate In figure and in voice. But, exiled from Australian Bowers, And singleness her lot, She trills her song with tutored powers, Or mocks each casual note.

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No more of pity for regrets With which she may have striven! Now but in wantonness she frets, Or spite, if cause be given; Arch, volatile, a sportive Bird By social glee inspired; Ambitious to be seen or heard, And pleased to be admired! __________

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 585 This moss-lined shed, green, soft, and dry, Harbours a self-contented Wren, Not shunning man’s abode, though shy, Almost as thought itself, of human ken. Strange places, coverts unendeared She never tried; the very nest In which this Child of Spring was reared, Is warmed, thro’ winter, by her feathery breast. To the bleak winds she sometimes gives A slender unexpected strain; That tells the Hermitess still lives, Though she appear not, and be sought in vain. Say, Dora! tell me by yon placid Moon, If called to choose between the favoured pair, Which would you be,—the Bird of the Saloon, By Lady fingers tended with nice care, Caressed, applauded, upon dainties fed, Or Nature’s Darkling of this mossy Shed?

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The Infant M——— M——— Unquiet Childhood here by special grace Forgets her nature, opening like a flower That neither feeds nor wastes its vital power In painful struggles. Months each other chase, And nought untunes that Infant’s voice; a trace Of fretful temper sullies not her cheek; Prompt, lively, self-sufficing, yet so meek That one enrapt with gazing on her face, (Which even the placid innocence of Death Could scarcely make more placid, Heaven more bright,) Might learn to picture, for the eye of faith, The Virgin, as she shone with kindred light; A Nursling couched upon her Mother’s knee, Beneath some shady Palm of Galilee.

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  Addressed to Mary Monkhouse, daughter of WW’s friend Thomas Monkhouse. She was born December 21, 1821.

586â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Cenotaph In affectionate remembrance of Frances Fermor, whose remains are deposited in the church of Claines, near Worcester, this stone is erected by her sister, Dame Margaret, wife of Sir George Beaumont, Bart., who, feeling not less than the love of a brother for the deceased, commends this memorial to the care of his heirs and successors in the possession of this place.

By vain affections unenthralled, Though resolute when duty called To meet the world’s broad eye, Pure as the holiest cloistered nun That ever feared the tempting sun, Did Fermor live and die. This Tablet, hallowed by her name, One heart-relieving tear may claim; But if the pensive gloom Of fond regret be still thy choice, Exalt thy spirit, hear the voice Of Jesus from her tomb! “i am the way, the truth, and the life.”

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Elegiac Stanzas. 1824â•› O for a dirge! But why complain? Ask rather a triumphal strain When Fermor’s race is run; A garland of immortal boughs To bind around the Christian’s brows, Whose glorious work is done. We pay a high and holy debt; No tears of passionate regret Shall stain this votive lay; Ill-worthy, Beaumont! were the grief That flings itself on wild relief When Saints have passed away. Sad doom, at Sorrow’s shrine to kneel, For ever covetous to feel, And impotent to bear:   The subject here, as in the preceding poem, is Frances Fermor.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 587 Such once was hers—to think and think On severed love, and only sink From anguish to despair! But nature to its inmost part Had Faith refined, and to her heart A peaceful cradle given; Calm as the dew-drop’s, free to rest Within a breeze-fanned rose’s breast Till it exhales to heaven. Was ever Spirit that could bend So graciously?—that could descend, Another’s need to suit, So promptly from her lofty throne?— In works of love, in these alone, How restless, how minute! Pale was her hue; yet mortal cheek Ne’er kindled with a livelier streak When aught had suffered wrong,— When aught that breathes had felt a wound; Such look the Oppressor might confound, However proud and strong. But hushed be every thought that springs From out the bitterness of things; Her quiet is secure; No thorns can pierce her tender feet, Whose life was, like the violet sweet, As climbing jasmine, pure;— As snowdrop on an infant’s grave, Or lily heaving with the wave That feeds it and defends; As Vesper, ere the star hath kissed The mountain top, or breathed the mist That from the vale ascends. Thou takest not away, O Death! Thou strik’st—and absence perisheth, Indifference is no more;

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588â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The future brightens on our sight; For on the past hath fallen a light That tempts us to adore. “Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings—” “Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings— Dull, flagging notes that with each other jar?” “Think, gentle Lady, of a Harp so far From its own Country, and forgive the strings.” A simple answer! but even so forth springs, From the Castalian fountain of the heart, The Poetry of Life, and all that Art Divine of words quickening insensate Things. From the submissive necks of guiltless Men Stretched on the block, the glittering axe recoils; Sun, Moon, and Stars, all struggle in the toils Of mortal sympathy; what wonder then If the poor Harp distempered music yields To its sad Lord, far from his native Fields?

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A Morning Exercise Fancy, who leads the pastimes of the glad, Full oft is pleased a wayward dart to throw; Sending sad shadows after things not sad, Peopling the harmless fields with signs of woe: Beneath her sway, a simple forest cry Becomes an echo of Man’s misery. â•… Blithe Ravens croak of death; and when the Owl Tries his two voices for a favourite strain— Tu-whit—Tu-whoo! the unsuspecting fowl Forebodes mishap, or seems but to complain; Fancy, intent to harass and annoy, Can thus pervert the evidence of joy. â•… Through border wilds where naked Indians stray, Myriads of notes attest her subtle skill; A feathered Task-master cried, “Work away!”

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 589 And, in thy iteration, “Whip poor Will,” Is heard the Spirit of a toil-worn Slave, Lashed out of life, not quiet in the grave! â•… What wonder? at her bidding, ancient lays Steeped in dire griefs the voice of Philomel; And that fleet Messenger of summer days, The Swallow, twittered subject to like spell; But ne’er could Fancy bend the buoyant Lark To melancholy service—hark! O hark! â•… The daisy sleeps upon the dewy lawn, Not lifting yet the head that evening bowed; But He is risen, a later star of dawn, Glittering and twinkling near yon rosy cloud; Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark; The happiest Bird that sprang out of the Ark! â•… Hail, blest above all kinds!—Supremely skilled Restless with fixed to balance, high with low, Thou leav’st the Halcyon free her hopes to build On such forbearance as the deep may show; Perpetual flight, unchecked by earthly ties, Leavest to the wandering Bird of Paradise. â•… Faithful, though swift as lightning, the meek Dove; Yet more hath Nature reconciled in thee; So constant with thy downward eye of love, Yet, in aerial singleness, so free; So humble, yet so ready to rejoice In power of wing and never-wearied voice! â•… How would it please old Ocean to partake, With Sailors longing for a breeze in vain, The harmony that thou best lovest to make Where earth resembles most his blank domain! Urania’s self might welcome with pleased ear These matins mounting towards her native sphere.

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  “See Waterton’s Wanderings in South America.” WW refers to Charles Waterton’s Wanderings in South America, the North-West of the United States, and the Antilles, in the Years 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824 (London, 1825).

590â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Chanter by Heaven attracted, whom no bars To day-light known deter from that pursuit, ’Tis well that some sage instinct, when the stars Come forth at evening, keeps Thee still and mute; For not an eyelid could to sleep incline Were thou among them singing as they shine!

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To a Sky-lark Ethereal Minstrel! Pilgrim of the sky! Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound? Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground? Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, Those quivering wings composed, that music still! To the last point of vision, and beyond, Mount, daring Warbler! that love-prompted strain, (’Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond) Thrills not the less the bosom of the plain: Yet might’st thou seem, proud privilege! to sing All independent of the leafy spring. Leave to the Nightingale her shady wood; A privacy of glorious light is thine; Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood Of harmony, with rapture more divine; Type of the wise who soar, but never roam; True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home!

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“While they, her Playmates once, light-hearted tread” While they, her Playmates once, light-hearted tread The mountain turf and river’s flowery marge; Or float with music in the festal barge; Rein the proud steed, or through the dance are led; Is Anna doomed to press a weary bed— Till oft her guardian Angel, to some Charge More urgent called, will stretch his wings at large, And Friends too rarely prop the languid head. Yet Genius is no feeble comforter: The presence even of a stuffed Owl for her

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 591 Can cheat the time; sending her fancy out To ivied castles and to moonlight skies, Though he can neither stir a plume, nor shout, Nor veil, with restless film, his staring eyes. To ——— Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright, Whose mortal lineaments seem all refined By favouring Nature and a saintly Mind To something purer and more exquisite Than flesh and blood; whene’er thou meet’st my sight, When I behold thy blanched unwithered cheek, Thy temples fringed with locks of gleaming white, And head that droops because the soul is meek, Thee with the welcome Snowdrop I compare; That Child of Winter, prompting thoughts that climb From desolation tow’rds the genial prime; Or with the Moon conquering earth’s misty air, And filling more and more with crystal light As pensive Evening deepens into night.

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“Ere with cold beads of midnight dew” Ere with cold beads of midnight dew â•… Had mingled tears of thine, I grieved, fond Youth! that thou shouldst sue â•… To haughty Geraldine. Immoveable by generous sighs, â•… She glories in a train Who drag, beneath our native skies, â•… An Oriental Chain. Pine not like them with arms across, â•… Forgetting in thy care How the fast-rooted trees can toss â•… Their branches in mid air. The humblest Rivulet will take â•… Its own wild liberties;   Addressed to Lady Fitzgerald, as described to WW by his friend Lady Beaumont.

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592â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And, every day, the imprisoned Lake â•… Is flowing in the breeze. Then, crouch no more on suppliant knee, â•… But scorn with scorn outbrave; A Briton, even in love, should be â•… A subject, not a slave!

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Inscription The massy Ways, carried across these Heights By Roman Perseverance, are destroyed, Or hidden under ground, like sleeping worms. How venture then to hope that Time will spare This humble Walk? Yet on the mountain’s side A Poet’s hand first shaped it; and the steps Of that same Bard, repeated to and fro At morn, at noon, and under moonlight skies, Through the vicissitudes of many a year, Forbade the weeds to creep o’er its grey line. No longer, scattering to the heedless winds The vocal raptures of fresh poesy, Shall he frequent these precincts; locked no more In earnest converse with beloved Friends, Here will he gather stores of ready bliss, As from the beds and borders of a garden Choice flowers are gathered! But, if Power may spring Out of a farewell yearning favoured more Than kindred wishes mated suitably With vain regrets, the Exile would consign This Walk, his loved possession, to the care Of those pure Minds that reverence the Muse.

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“Strange visitation! at Jemima’s lip” Strange visitation! at Jemima’s lip   “This Sonnet, as Poetry, explains itself, yet the scene of the incident having been a wild wood, it may be doubted, as a point of natural history, whether the bird was aware that his attentions were bestowed upon a human, or even a living, creature. But a Redbreast will perch upon the foot of a gardener at work, and alight on the handle of the spade when his hand is half upon it—this I have seen. And under my own roof I have witnessed affecting instances of the creature’s friendly visits to the chambers of sick persons, as described in the Author’s poems, [The Redbreast. (Suggested in a Westmoreland Cottage.), included

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 593 Thus hadst thou pecked, wild Redbreast! Love might say, A half-blown rose had tempted thee to sip Its glistening dews; but hallowed is the clay Which the Muse warms; and I, whose head is grey, Am not unworthy of thy fellowship; Nor could I let one thought—one motion—slip That might thy sylvan confidence betray. For are we not all His, without whose care Vouchsafed no sparrow falleth to the ground? Who gives his Angels wings to speed through air, And rolls the planets through the blue profound; Then peck or perch, fond Flutterer! nor forbear To trust a Poet in still vision bound.

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“When Philoctetes in the Lemnian Isle” When Philoctetes in the Lemnian Isle Lay couched;—upon that breathless Monument, On him, or on his fearful bow unbent, Some wild Bird oft might settle, and beguile The rigid features of a transient smile, Disperse the tear, or to the sigh give vent, Slackening the pains of ruthless banishment From home affections, and heroic toil. Nor doubt that spiritual Creatures round us move, Griefs to allay that Reason cannot heal; And very Reptiles have sufficed to prove To fettered Wretchedness, that no Bastile Is deep enough to exclude the light of love, Though Man for Brother Man has ceased to feel.

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Retirement If the whole weight of what we think and feel, Save only far as thought and feeling blend With action, were as nothing, patriot Friend! From thy remonstrance would be no appeal; below]. One of these welcome intruders used frequently to roost upon a nail in the wall, from which a picture had hung, and was ready, as morning came, to pipe his song in the hearing of the Invalid, who had been long confined to her room. These attachments to a particular person, when marked and continued, used to be reckoned ominous; but the superstition is passing away.” WW added this note in 1838.

594â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth But to promote and fortify the weal Of our own Being, is her paramount end; A truth which they alone shall comprehend Who shun the mischief which they cannot heal. Peace in these feverish times is sovereign bliss; Here, with no thirst but what the stream can slake, And startled only by the rustling brake, Cool air I breathe; while the unincumbered Mind, By some weak aims at services assigned To gentle Natures, thanks not Heaven amiss.

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“Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild” Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild With ready sunbeams every straggling shower; And, if an unexpected cloud should lower, Swiftly thereon a rainbow arch to build For Fancy’s errands,—then, from fields half-tilled Gathering green weeds to mix with poppy flower, Thee might thy Minions crown, and chant thy power, Unpitied by the wise, all censure stilled. Ah! show that worthier honours are thy due; Fair Prime of Life! arouse the deeper heart; Confirm the Spirit glorying to pursue Some path of steep ascent and lofty aim; And, if there be a joy that slights the claim Of grateful memory, bid that joy depart.

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“Go back to antique Ages, if thine eyes” Go back to antique Ages, if thine eyes The genuine mien and character would trace Of the rash Spirit that still holds her place, Prompting the World’s audacious vanities! See, at her call, the Tower of Babel rise; The Pyramid extend its monstrous base, For some Aspirant of our short-lived race, Anxious an aery name to immortalize. There, too, ere wiles and politic dispute Gave specious colouring to aim and act, See the first mighty Hunter leave the brute

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 595 To chase mankind, with men in armies packed For his field-pastime, high and absolute, While, to dislodge his game, cities are sacked! “Are States oppress’d afflicted and degraded” Are States oppress’d afflicted and degraded Lo! while before Minerva’s altar quake The concious Tyrants, like a vengeful snake Leaps forth the Sword that lurk’d with myrtles braided! Thence to the Capitol by Fancy aided The hush’d design of Brutus to partake Or watch the Hero of the Helvetian Lake ’Till from that rocky couch with pine oershaded He starts and grasps his deadly Carabine Nor let thy thirst forego the draught divine Of Liberty which like a liquid Fountain Refresh’d Pelayo on the illustrious mountain; The Swede within the Dalecarlian mine When every hope but his was shrunk and faded.

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Ode, composed on may morning

While from the purpling east departs â•… The Star that led the dawn, Blithe Flora from her couch upstarts, â•… For May is on the lawn. A quickening hope, a freshening glee, â•… Foreran the expected Power, Whose first-drawn breath, from bush and tree, â•… Shakes off that pearly shower. All Nature welcomes Her whose sway, â•… Tempers the year’s extremes; Who scattereth lusters o’er noon-day, â•… Like morning’s dewy gleams; While mellow warble, sprightly trill, â•… The tremulous heart excite; And hums the balmy air to still â•… The balance of delight.

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596â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Time was, blest Power! when Youths and Maids â•… At peep of dawn would rise, And wander forth, in forest glades â•… Thy birth to solemnize. Though mute the song—to grace the rite â•… Untouched the hawthorn bough, Thy Spirit triumphs o’er the slight; â•… Man changes, but not Thou! Thy feathered Lieges bill and wings â•… In love’s disport employ; Warmed by thy influence, creeping Things â•… Awake to silent joy: Queen art thou still for each gay Plant â•… Where the slim wild Deer roves; And served in depths where Fishes haunt â•… Their own mysterious groves. Cloud-piercing Peak, and trackless Heath, â•… Instinctive homage pay; Nor wants the dim-lit Cave a wreath â•… To honour Thee, sweet May! Where Cities fanned by thy brisk airs â•… Behold a smokeless sky, Their puniest Flower-pot-nursling dares â•… To open a bright eye. And if, on this thy natal morn, â•… The Pole, from which thy name Hath not departed, stands forlorn â•… Of song and dance and game, Still from the village-green a vow â•… Aspires to thee addrest, Wherever peace is on the brow, â•… Or love within the breast. Yes! where Love nestles thou canst teach â•… The soul to love the more; Hearts also shall thy lessons reach â•… That never loved before. Stript is the haughty One of pride,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 597 â•… The bashful freed from fear, While rising, like the ocean-tide, â•… In flows the joyous year. Hush, feeble lyre! weak words, refuse â•… The service to prolong! To yon exulting Thrush the Muse â•… Intrusts the imperfect song; His voice shall chant, in accents clear, â•… Throughout the live-long day, Till the first silver Star appear, â•… The sovereignty of May.

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To May Though many suns have risen and set â•… Since thou, blithe May, wert born, And Bards, who hailed thee, may forget â•… Thy gifts, thy beauty scorn; There are who to a birthday strain â•… Confine not harp and voice, But evermore throughout thy reign â•… Are grateful and rejoice! Delicious odours! music sweet, â•… Too sweet to pass away! Oh for a deathless song to meet â•… The soul’s desire—a lay That, when a thousand years are told, â•… Should praise thee, genial Power! Through summer heat, autumnal cold, â•… And winter’s dreariest hour. Earth, Sea, thy presence feel—nor less, â•… If yon ethereal blue With its soft smile the truth express, â•… The Heavens have felt it too. The inmost heart of man if glad â•… Partakes a livelier cheer; And eyes that cannot but be sad â•… Let fall a brightened tear.

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598â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Since thy return, through days and weeks â•… Of hope that grew by stealth, How many wan and faded cheeks â•… Have kindled into health! The Old, by thee revived, have said, â•… “Another year is ours;” And wayworn Wanderers, poorly fed, â•… Have smiled upon thy flowers. Who tripping lisps a merry song â•… Amid his playful peers? The tender Infant who was long â•… A prisoner of fond fears; But now, when every sharp-edged blast â•… Is quiet in its sheath, His Mother leaves him free to taste â•… Earth’s sweetness in thy breath. Thy help is with the Weed that creeps â•… Along the humblest ground; No Cliff so bare but on its steeps â•… Thy favours may be found; But most on some peculiar nook â•… That our own hands have drest, Thou and thy train are proud to look, â•… And seem to love it best. And yet how pleased we wander forth â•… When May is whispering, “Come! Choose from the bowers of virgin earth â•… The happiest for your home; Heaven’s bounteous love through me is spread â•… From sunshine, clouds, winds, waves, Drops on the mouldering turret’s head, â•… And on your turf-clad graves!” Such greeting heard, away with sighs â•… For lilies that must fade, Or “the rathe primrose as it dies â•… Forsaken” in the shade! Vernal fruitions and desires

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 599 â•… Are linked in endless chase; While, as one kindly growth retires, â•… Another takes its place. And what if thou, sweet May, hast known â•… Mishap by worm and blight; If expectations newly blown â•… Have perished in thy sight; If loves and joys, while up they sprung, â•… Were caught as in a snare; Such is the lot of all the young, â•… However bright and fair. Lo! Streams that April could not check â•… Are patient of thy rule; Gurgling in foamy water-break, â•… Loitering in glassy pool: By thee, thee only, could be sent â•… Such gentle Mists as glide, Curling with unconfirmed intent, â•… On that green mountain’s side. How delicate the leafy veil â•… Through which yon House of God Gleams ’mid the peace of this deep dale â•… By few but shepherds trod! And lowly Huts, near beaten ways, â•… No sooner stand attired In thy fresh wreaths, than they for praise â•… Peep forth, and are admired. Season of fancy and of hope, â•… Permit not for one hour A blossom from thy crown to drop, â•… Nor add to it a flower! Keep, lovely May, as if by touch â•… Of self-restraining art, This modest charm of not too much, â•… Part seen, imagined part!

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600â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “Once I could hail (howe’er serene the sky)” “Late, late yestreen I saw the new moone Wi’ the auld moone in hir arme.” â•…â•…â•…â•… Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence, Percy’s Reliques.

Once I could hail (howe’er serene the sky) The Moon re-entering her monthly round, No faculty yet given me to espy The dusky Shape within her arms imbound, That thin memento of effulgence lost Which some have named her Predecessor’s Ghost. Young, like the Crescent that above me shone, Nought I perceived within it dull or dim; All that appeared was suitable to One Whose fancy had a thousand fields to skim; To expectations spreading with wild growth, And hope that kept with me her plighted troth. I saw (ambition quickening at the view) A silver boat launched on a boundless flood; A pearly crest, like Dian’s when it threw Its brightest splendour round a leafy wood; But not a hint from under-ground, no sign Fit for the glimmering brow of Proserpine. Or was it Dian’s self that seemed to move Before me? nothing blemished the fair sight; On her I looked whom jocund Fairies love, Cynthia, who puts the little stars to flight, And by that thinning magnifies the great, For exaltation of her sovereign state. And when I learned to mark the spectral Shape As each new Moon obeyed the call of Time, If gloom fell on me, swift was my escape; Such happy privilege hath Life’s gay Prime, To see or not to see, as best may please A buoyant Spirit, and a heart at ease.   WW cites Thomas Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (3 vols.; London, 1765).

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 601 Now, dazzling Stranger! when thou meet’st my glance, Thy dark Associate ever I discern; Emblem of thoughts too eager to advance While I salute my joys, thoughts sad or stern; Shades of past bliss, or phantoms that to gain Their fill of promised lustre wait in vain. So changes mortal Life with fleeting years; A mournful change, should Reason fail to bring The timely insight that can temper fears, And from vicissitude remove its sting; While Faith aspires to seats in that Domain Where joys are perfect, neither wax nor wane.

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“The Lady whom you here behold” The Lady whom you here behold Was once Pigmalion’s Wife He made her first from marble cold And Venus gave her life. When fate remov’d her from his arms Thro’ sundry Forms she pass’d And conquering hearts by various charms This shape she took at last. We caught her, true tho’ strange th’ account Among a troop of Fairies Who nightly frisk on our green Mount And practise strange vagaries. Her raiment then was scant, so we Bestowed some pains upon her Part for the sake of decency And part to do her honor. But as no doubt ’twas for her sins We found her in such plight She shall do penance stuck with pins And serve you day and night.

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602â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To ——— Happy the feeling from the bosom thrown In perfect shape whose beauty Time shall spare Though a breath made it, like a bubble blown For summer pastime into wanton air; Happy the thought best likened to a stone Of the sea-beach, when, polished with nice care, Veins it discovers exquisite and rare, Which for the loss of that moist gleam atone That tempted first to gather it. O chief Of Friends! such feelings if I here present, Such thoughts, with others mixed less fortunate; Then smile into my heart a fond belief That Thou, if not with partial joy elate, Receiv’st the gift for more than mild content!

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To S. H. Excuse is needless when with love sincere Of occupation, not by fashion led, Thou turn’st the Wheel that slept with dust o’erspread; My nerves from no such murmur shrink,––tho’ near, Soft as the Dorhawk’s to a distant ear, When twilight shades bedim the mountain’s head. She who was feigned to spin our vital thread Might smile, O Lady! on a task once dear To household virtues. Venerable Art, Torn from the Poor! yet will kind Heaven protect Its own, not left without a guiding chart, If Rulers, trusting with undue respect To proud discoveries of the Intellect, Sanction the pillage of man’s ancient heart. “Prithee gentle Lady list” Prithee gentle Lady list To a small Ventriloquist I whose pretty voice you hear From this paper speaking clear   Probably addressed to Mary Wordsworth.   Sara Hutchinson, WW’s sister-in-law.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 603 Have a mother, once a Statue! I thus boldly looking at you Do the name of Paphus bear Fam’d Pygmalion’s son and heir By that wondrous marble wife That from Venus took her life Cupid’s nephew then am I Nor unskilled his darts to ply But from him I crav’d no warrant Coming thus to seek my parent Not equipp’d with bow and quiver Her by menace to deliver But resolv’d with filial care Her captivity to share Hence while on your Toilet she Is doom’d a Pincushion to be By her side I’ll take my place As a humble Needlecase Furnish’d too with dainty thread For a Sempstress thorough bred Then let both be kindly treated Till the Term for which she’s fated Durance to sustain be over So will I ensure a Lover Lady! to your heart’s content But on harshness are you bent? Bitterly shall you repent When to Cyprus back I go And take up my Uncle’s bow.

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Conclusion to

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If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art Produced as lonely Nature or the strife That animates the scenes of public life Inspired, may in thy leisure claim a part; And if these Transcripts of the private heart

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  The sonnet concluded the Miscellaneous Sonnets in WW’s Poetical Works (1827) and reflects back on them at the close of that series.

604â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Have gained a sanction from thy falling tears, Then I repent not: but my soul hath fears Breathed from eternity; for as a dart Cleaves the blank air, Life flies: now every day Is but a glimmering spoke in the swift wheel Of the revolving week. Away, away, All fitful cares, all transitory zeal; So timely Grace the immortal wing may heal, And honour rest upon the senseless clay.

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Address to kilchurn castle upon loch awe

“From the top of the hill a most impressive scene opened upon our view,— a ruined Castle on an Island at some distance from the shore, backed by a Cove of the Mountain Cruachan, down which came a foaming stream. The Castle occupied every foot of the Island that was visible to us, appearing to rise out of the Water,—mists rested upon the mountain side, with spots of sunshine; there was a mild desolation in the low-grounds, a solemn grandeur in the mountains, and the Castle was wild, yet stately—not dismantled of Turrets—nor the walls broken down, though obviously a ruin.” Extract from the Journal of my Companion.

Child of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream Roars in thy hearing; but thy hour of rest Is come, and thou art silent in thy age; Save when the winds sweep by and sounds are caught Ambiguous, neither wholly thine nor theirs. Oh! there is life that breathes not; Powers there are That touch each other to the quick in modes Which the gross world no sense hath to perceive, No soul to dream of. What art Thou, from care Cast off—abandoned by thy rugged Sire, Nor by soft Peace adopted; though, in place And in dimension, such that thou might’st seem But a mere footstool to yon sovereign Lord, Huge Cruachan, (a thing that meaner Hills Might crush, nor know that it had suffered harm;) Yet he, not loth, in favour of thy claims To reverence suspends his own; submitting All that the God of Nature hath conferred,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 605 All that he has in common with the Stars, To the memorial majesty of Time Impersonated in thy calm decay! Take, then, thy seat, Vicegerent unreproved! Now, while a farewell gleam of evening light Is fondly lingering on thy shattered front, Do thou, in turn, be paramount; and rule Over the pomp and beauty of a scene Whose mountains, torrents, lake, and woods, unite To pay thee homage; and with these are joined, In willing admiration and respect, Two Hearts, which in thy presence might be called Youthful as Spring. Shade of departed Power, Skeleton of unfleshed humanity, The Chronicle were welcome that should call Into the compass of distinct regard The toils and struggles of thy infancy! Yon foaming flood seems motionless as Ice; Its dizzy turbulence eludes the eye, Frozen by distance; so, majestic Pile, To the perception of this Age, appear Thy fierce beginnings, softened and subdued And quieted in character; the strife, The pride, the fury uncontrollable, Lost on the aërial heights of the Crusades!

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“Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned” Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned, Mindless of its just honours;—with this Key Shakspeare unlocked his heart; the melody Of this small Lute gave ease to Petrarch’s wound; A thousand times this Pipe did Tasso sound; Camöens soothed with it an Exile’s grief; The Sonnet glittered a gay myrtle Leaf Amid the cypress with which Dante crowned His visionary brow: a glow-worm Lamp, It cheered mild Spenser, called from Faery-land

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  “The Tradition is, that the Castle was built by a Lady during the absence of her Lord in Palestine.” WW

606â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To struggle through dark ways; and when a damp Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand The Thing became a Trumpet, whence he blew Soul-animating strains—alas, too few! “There is a pleasure in poetic pains” There is a pleasure in poetic pains Which only Poets know;—’twas rightly said; Whom could the Muses else allure to tread Their smoothest paths, to wear their lightest chains? When happiest Fancy has inspired the Strains, How oft the malice of one luckless word Pursues the Enthusiast to the social board, Haunts him belated on the silent plains! Yet he repines not, if his thought stand clear At last of hindrance and obscurity, Fresh as the Star that crowns the brow of Morn; Bright, speckless as a softly-moulded tear The moment it has left the Virgin’s eye, Or rain-drop lingering on the pointed Thorn.

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To the Cuckoo Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard When sunshine follows shower, the breast can thrill Like the first summons, Cuckoo! of thy bill, With its twin notes inseparably paired. The Captive, ’mid damp vaults unsunned, unaired, Measuring the periods of his lonely doom, That cry can reach; and to the sick man’s room Sends gladness, by no languid smile declared. The lordly Eagle-race through hostile search May perish; time may come when never more The wilderness shall hear the Lion roar; But, long as Cock shall crow from household perch To rouse the dawn, soft gales shall speed thy wing, And thy erratic voice be faithful to the Spring! “In my mind’s eye a Temple, like a cloud” In my mind’s eye a Temple, like a cloud

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 607 Slowly surmounting some invidious hill, Rose out of darkness: the bright Work stood still, And might of its own beauty have been proud, But it was fashioned and to God was vowed By virtues that diffused, in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art: Faith had her arch—her arch, when winds blow loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrilled; And Love her towers of dread foundation laid Under the grave of things; Hope had her spire Star-high, and pointing still to something higher; Trembling I gazed, but heard a voice—it said, Hell-gates are powerless Phantoms when we build.

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On Seeing a Needlecase in the Form of a Harp, the work of e. m. s.

Frowns are on every Muse’s face, â•… Reproaches from their lips are sent, That mimickry should thus disgrace â•… The noble Instrument. A very Harp in all but size! â•… Needles for strings in apt gradation! Minerva’s self would stigmatize â•… The unclassic profanation. Even her own Needle that subdued â•… Arachne’s rival spirit, Though wrought in Vulcan’s happiest mood, â•… Like station could not merit. And this, too, from the Laureate’s Child, â•… A living Lord of melody! How will her Sire be reconciled â•… To the refined indignity? I spake, when whispered a low voice, â•… “Bard! moderate your ire; “Spirits of all degrees rejoice   Edith May Southey was the daughter of Robert Southey of Greta Hall, Keswick.

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608â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… “In presence of the Lyre.

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“The Minstrels of Pygmean bands, â•… “Dwarf Genii, moonlight-loving Fays, “Have shells to fit their tiny hands â•… “And suit their slender lays. “Some, still more delicate of ear, â•… “Have lutes (believe my words) “Whose framework is of gossamer, â•… “While sunbeams are the chords. “Gay Sylphs this Miniature will court, â•… “Made vocal by their brushing wings, “And sullen Gnomes will learn to sport â•… “Around its polished strings; “Whence strains to love-sick Maiden dear, â•… “While in her lonely Bower she tries “To cheat the thought she cannot cheer, â•… “By fanciful embroideries. “Trust, angry Bard! a knowing Sprite, â•… “Nor think the Harp her lot deplores; “Though mid the stars the Lyre shines bright, â•… “Love stoops as fondly as he soars.”

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“Her only Pilot the soft breeze the Boat” Her only Pilot the soft breeze the Boat Lingers, but Fancy is well satisfied; With keen-eyed Hope, with Memory, at her side, And the glad Muse at liberty to note All that to each is precious, as we float Gently along; regardless who shall chide If the Heavens smile, and leave us free to glide, Happy Associates breathing air remote From trivial cares. But, Fancy and the Muse, Why have I crowded this small Bark with you And others of your kind, Ideal Crew! While here sits One whose brightness owes its hues To flesh and blood; no Goddess from above,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 609 No fleeting Spirit, but my own true Love? Farewell Lines “High bliss is only for a higher state,” But, surely, if severe afflictions borne With patience merit the reward of peace, Peace ye deserve; and may the solid good, Sought by a wise though late exchange, and here With bounteous hand beneath a cottage-roof To you accorded, never be withdrawn, Nor for the world’s best promises renounced. Most soothing was it for a welcome friend, Fresh from the crowded city, to behold That lonely union, privacy so deep, Such calm employments, such entire content. So, when the rain is over, the storm laid, A pair of herons oft-times have I seen, Upon a rocky islet, side by side, Drying their feathers in the sun, at ease; And so, when night with grateful gloom had fallen, Two glowworms in such nearness that they shared, As seemed, their soft self-satisfying light, Each with the other, on the dewy ground, Where He that made them blesses their repose. When wandering among lakes and hills I note, Once more, those creatures thus by nature paired, And guarded in their tranquil state of life, Even, as your happy presence to my mind Their union brought, will they repay the debt, And send a thankful spirit back to you, With hope that we, dear Friends! shall meet again. Extract from the Strangers book Station Winandermere “Lord & Lady Darlington, Lady Vane, Miss Taylor & Capn Stamp pronounce this Lake superior to Lac de Geneve, Lago de Como, Lago Maggiore, L’Eau de Zurick, Loch Lomond, Loch Ketterine or the Lakes of Killarney”—

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610â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth on seeing the above

My Lord and Lady Darlington I would not speak in snarling tone Nor to you good Lady Vane Would I give one moment’s pain Nor Miss Taylor Captain Stamp Would I your flights of memory cramp Yet having spent a summer’s day On the green margin of Loch Tay And doubled (prospects ever bettering) The mazy reaches of Loch Ketterine And more than once been free at Luss Loch Lomond’s beauties to discuss And wish’d at least to hear the blarney Of the sly boatmen of Killarney And dipt my hand in dancing wave Of “Eau de Zurich Lac Genêve” And bow’d to many a Major Domo On stately terraces of Como And seen the Simplon’s forehead hoary Reclinèd on Lago Maggiore At breathless eventide at rest On the broad water’s placid breast I, not insensible Heaven knows To the charms this station shows, Must tell you Capn Lord and Ladies, For honest truth one Poet’s trade is, That your praise appears to me Folly’s own Hyperbole—!

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“Four fiery steeds impatient of the rein” Four fiery steeds impatient of the rein Whirled us o’er sunless ground beneath a sky As void of sunshine, when, from that wide Plain, Clear tops of far-off Mountains we descry, Like a Sierra of cerulean Spain, All light and lustre. Did no heart reply? Yes, there was One;—for One, asunder fly The thousand links of that ethereal chain;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 611 And green vales open out, with grove and field, And the fair front of many a happy Home; Such tempting spots as into vision come While Soldiers, of the weapons that they wield Weary, and sick of strifeful Christendom, Gaze on the moon by parting clouds revealed.

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Roman Antiquities Discovered, at bishopstone, herefordshire While poring Antiquarians search the ground Upturned with curious pains, the Bard, a Seer, Takes fire:—The men that have been reappear; Romans for travel girt, for business gowned, And some recline on couches, myrtle-crowned, In festal glee: why not? For fresh and clear, As if its hues were of the passing year, Dawns this time-buried pavement. From that mound Hoards may come forth of Trajans, Maximins, Shrunk into coins with all their warlike toil: Or a fierce impress issues with its foil Of tenderness—the Wolf, whose suckling Twins The unlettered Ploughboy pities when he wins The casual treasure from the furrowed soil.

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St. Catherine of Ledbury When human touch, as monkish books attest, Nor was applied nor could be, Ledbury bells Broke forth in concert flung adown the dells, And upward, high as Malvern’s cloudy crest; Sweet tones, and caught by a noble Lady blest To rapture! Mabel listened at the side Of her loved Mistress: soon the music died, And Catherine said, “Here I set up my rest.” Warned in a dream, the Wanderer long had sought A home that by such miracle of sound Must be revealed:—she heard it now, or felt The deep, deep joy of a confiding thought; And there, a saintly Anchoress she dwelt Till she exchanged for heaven that happy ground.

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612â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To ——— [Miss not the occasion; by the forelock take That subtile Power, the never-halting Time, Lest a mere moment’s putting-off should make Mischance almost as heavy as a crime.]

“Wait, prithee, wait!” this answer Lesbia threw Forth to her Dove, and took no further heed; Her eye was busy, while her fingers flew Across the harp, with soul-engrossing speed; But from that bondage when her thoughts were freed She rose, and toward the close-shut casement drew, Whence the poor unregarded Favorite, true To old affections, had been heard to plead With flapping wing for entrance. What a shriek Forced from that voice so lately tuned to a strain Of harmony!—a shriek of terror, pain, And self-reproach!—for, from aloft, a Kite Pounced, and the Dove, which from its ruthless beak She could not rescue, perished in her sight!

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Filial Piety Untouched through all severity of cold, Inviolate, whate’er the cottage hearth Might need for comfort, or for festal mirth, That Pile of Turf is half a century old: Yes, Traveller! fifty winters have been told Since suddenly the dart of death went forth ’Gainst him who raised it,—his last work on earth; Thence by his Son more prized than aught which gold Could purchase—watched, preserved by his own hands, That, faithful to the Structure, still repair Its waste.—Though crumbling with each breath of air, In annual renovation thus it stands— Rude Mausoleum! but wrens nestle there, And red-breasts warble when sweet sounds are rare.

  Addressed to Ellen Loveday Walker.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 613 A Grave-stone upon the Floor in the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral “Miserrimus!” and neither name nor date, Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone; Nought but that word assigned to the unknown, That solitary word—to separate From all, and cast a cloud around the fate Of him who lies beneath. Most wretched one, Who chose his Epitaph? Himself alone Could thus have dared the grave to agitate, And claim, among the dead, this awful crown; Nor doubt that He marked also for his own, Close to these cloistral steps a burial-place, That every foot might fall with heavier tread, Trampling upon his vileness. Stranger, pass Softly!—To save the contrite, Jesus bled.

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The Wishing-gate In the vale of Grasmere, by the side of the high-way, leading to Ambleside, is a gate, which, time out of mind, has been called the wishing-gate, from a belief that wishes formed or indulged there have a favourable issue.

Hope rules a land for ever green: All powers that serve the bright-eyed Queen Are confident and gay; Clouds at her bidding disappear; Points she to aught?—the bliss draws near, And Fancy smooths the way. Not such the land of wishes—there Dwell fruitless day-dreams, lawless prayer, And thoughts with things at strife; Yet how forlorn should ye depart, Ye superstitions of the heart, How poor were human life! When magic lore abjured its might, Ye did not forfeit one dear right, One tender claim abate;   See “The Wishing-gate Destroyed,” below, and WW’s note to that poem.

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614â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Witness this symbol of your sway, Surviving near the public way, The rustic Wishing-gate! Inquire not if the faery race Shed kindly influence on the place, Ere northward they retired; If here a warrior left a spell, Panting for glory as he fell; Or here a saint expired. Enough that all around is fair, Composed with Nature’s finest care, And in her fondest love; Peace to embosom and content, To overawe the turbulent, The selfish to reprove. Yea! even the Stranger from afar, Reclining on this moss-grown bar, Unknowing, and unknown, The infection of the ground partakes, Longing for his Belov’d—who makes All happiness her own. Then why should conscious Spirits fear The mystic stirrings that are here, The ancient faith disclaim? The local Genius ne’er befriends Desires whose course in folly ends, Whose just reward is shame. Smile if thou wilt, but not in scorn, If some, by ceaseless pains outworn, Here crave an easier lot; If some have thirsted to renew A broken vow, or bind a true, With firmer, holier knot. And not in vain, when thoughts are cast Upon the irrevocable past, Some penitent sincere

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 615 May for a worthier future sigh, While trickles from his downcast eye No unavailing tear. The Worldling, pining to be freed From turmoil, who would turn or speed The current of his fate, Might stop before this favoured scene, At Nature’s call, nor blush to lean Upon the Wishing-gate. The Sage, who feels how blind, how weak Is man, though loth such help to seek, Yet, passing, here might pause, And yearn for insight to allay Misgiving, while the crimson day In quietness withdraws; Or when the church-clock’s knell profound To Time’s first step across the bound Of midnight makes reply; Time pressing on with starry crest, To filial sleep upon the breast Of dread eternity!

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A Tradition of Darley Dale, Derbyshire ’Tis said that to the brow of yon fair hill Two Brothers clomb, and, turning face from face, Nor one look more exchanging, grief to still Or feed, each planted on that lofty place A chosen Tree; then, eager to fulfil Their courses, like two new-born rivers, they In opposite directions urged their way Down from the far-seen mount. No blast might kill Or blight that fond memorial;—the trees grew, And now entwine their arms; but ne’er again Embraced those Brothers upon earth’s wide plain; Nor aught of mutual joy or sorrow knew Until their spirits mingled in the sea That to itself takes all—Eternity.

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616â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “The unremitting voice of nightly streams” The unremitting voice of nightly streams That wastes so oft, we think, its tuneful powers, If neither soothing to the worm that gleams Through dewy grass, nor small birds hushed in bowers, Nor unto silent leaves and drowsy flowers,— That voice of unpretending harmony (For who what is shall measure by what seems To be, or not to be, Or tax high Heaven with prodigality?) Wants not a healing influence that can creep Into the human breast, and mix with sleep To regulate the motion of our dreams For kindly issues—as through every clime Was felt near murmuring brooks in earliest time; As at this day, the rudest swains who dwell Where torrents roar, or hear the tinkling knell Of water-breaks, with grateful heart could tell.

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The Gleaner (Suggested by a Picture) That happy gleam of vernal eyes, Those locks from summer’s golden skies, â•…â•… That o’er thy brow are shed; That cheek—a kindling of the morn, That lip—a rose-bud from the thorn, â•…â•… I saw;—and Fancy sped To scenes Arcadian, whispering, through soft air, Of bliss that grows without a care, Of happiness that never flies— How can it where love never dies? Of promise whispering, where no blight Can reach the innocent delight; Where pity, to the mind conveyed In pleasure, is the darkest shade That Time, unwrinkled Grandsire, flings From his smoothly-gliding wings. What mortal form, what earthly face, Inspired the pencil, lines to trace,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 617 And mingle colours, that should breed Such rapture, nor want power to feed; For had thy charge been idle flowers, Fair Damsel, o’er my captive mind, To truth and sober reason blind, ’Mid that soft air, those long-lost bowers, The sweet illusion might have hung, for hours. —Thanks to this tell-tale sheaf of corn, That touchingly bespeaks thee born Life’s daily tasks with them to share Who, whether from their lowly bed They rise, or rest the weary head, Ponder the blessing they entreat From Heaven, and feel what they repeat, While they give utterance to the prayer That asks for daily bread.

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The Triadâ•› Show me the noblest Youth of present time, Whose trembling fancy would to love give birth; Some God or Hero, from the Olympian clime Returned, to seek a Consort upon earth; Or, in no doubtful prospect, let me see The brightest star of ages yet to be, And I will mate and match him blissfully. I will not fetch a Naiad from a flood Pure as herself—(song lacks not mightier power) Nor leaf-crowned Dryad from a pathless wood, Nor Sea-nymph glistening from her coral bower; Mere Mortals bodied forth in vision still, Shall with Mount Ida’s triple lustre fill The chaster coverts of a British hill. “Appear!—obey my lyre’s command! Come, like the Graces, hand in hand! For ye, though not by birth allied,

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â•… WW identified the three young women addressed in the poem as Edith May Southey, daughter of Robert Southey, his own daughter Dora, and Sara Coleridge, daughter of Samuel T. Coleridge.

618â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Are Sisters in the bond of love; And not the boldest tongue of envious pride In you those interweavings could reprove Which They, the progeny of Jove, Learnt from the tuneful spheres that glide In endless union earth and sea above.”— —I speak in vain,—the pines have hushed their waving: A peerless Youth expectant at my side, Breathless as they, with unabated craving Looks to the earth, and to the vacant air; And, with a wandering eye that seems to chide, Asks of the clouds what Occupants they hide:— But why solicit more than sight could bear, By casting on a moment all we dare? Invoke we those bright Beings one by one, And what was boldly promised, truly shall be done. “Fear not this constraining measure! Drawn by a poetic spell, Lucida! from domes of pleasure, Or from cottage-sprinkled dell, Come to regions solitary, Where the eagle builds her aery, Above the hermit’s long-forsaken cell!” —She comes!—behold That Figure, like a ship with silver sail! Nearer she draws—a breeze uplifts her veil— Upon her coming wait As pure a sunshine and as soft a gale As e’er, on herbage covering earthly mould, Tempted the bird of Juno to unfold His richest splendour, when his veering gait And every motion of his starry train Seem governed by a strain Of music, audible to him alone.— O Lady, worthy of earth’s proudest throne! Nor less, by excellence of nature, fit Beside an unambitious hearth to sit Domestic queen, where grandeur is unknown; What living man could fear

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 619 The worst of Fortune’s malice, wert thou near, Humbling that lily stem, thy sceptre meek, That its fair flowers may brush from off his cheek The too, too happy tear? ——Queen and handmaid lowly! Whose skill can speed the day with lively cares, And banish melancholy By all that mind invents or hand prepares; O thou, against whose lip, without its smile, And in its silence even, no heart is proof; Whose goodness, sinking deep, would reconcile The softest Nursling of a gorgeous palace To the bare life beneath the hawthorn roof Of Sherwood’s archer, or in caves of Wallace— Who that hath seen thy beauty could content His soul with but a glimpse of heavenly day? Who that hath loved thee, but would lay His strong hand on the wind, if it were bent To take thee in thy Majesty away? —Pass onward (even the glancing deer Till we depart intrude not here;) That mossy slope, o’er which the woodbine throws A canopy, is smoothed for thy repose!” Glad moment is it when the throng Of warblers in full concert strong Strive, and not vainly strive, to rout The lagging shower, and force coy Phœbus out, Met by the rainbow’s form divine, Issuing from her cloudy shrine;— So may the thrillings of the lyre Prevail to further our desire, While to these shades a Nymph I call, The youngest of the lovely Three.— “Come, if the notes thine ear may pierce; Submissive to the might of verse, By none more deeply felt than thee!” —I sang; and lo! from pastimes virginal She hastens to the tents Of nature, and the lonely elements.

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620â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Air sparkles round her with a dazzling sheen, And mark her glowing cheek, her vesture green! And, as if wishful to disarm Or to repay the potent charm, She bears the stringèd lute of old romance, That cheered the trellised arbour’s privacy, And soothed war-wearied knights in raftered hall. How light her air! how delicate her glee! So tripped the Muse, inventress of the dance; So, truant in waste woods, the blithe Euphrosyne! But the ringlets of that head Why are they ungarlanded? Why bedeck her temples less Than the simplest shepherdess? Is it not a brow inviting Choicest flowers that ever breathed, Which the myrtle would delight in With Idalian rose enwreathed? But her humility is well content With one wild floweret (call it not forlorn) Flower of the winds, beneath her bosom worn; Yet is it more for love than ornament. Open, ye thickets! let her fly, Swift as a Thracian Nymph o’er field and height! For She, to all but those who love Her shy, Would gladly vanish from a Stranger’s sight; Though where she is beloved, and loves, as free As bird that rifles blossoms on a tree, Turning them inside out with arch audacity. Alas! how little can a moment show Of an eye where feeling plays In ten thousand dewy rays; A face o’er which a thousand shadows go! —She stops—is fastened to that rivulet’s side; And there (while, with sedater mien, O’er timid waters that have scarcely left Their birth-place in the rocky cleft She bends) at leisure may be seen

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 621 Features to old ideal grace allied, Amid their smiles and dimples dignified— Fit countenance for the soul of primal truth, The bland composure of eternal youth! What more changeful than the sea? But over his great tides Fidelity presides; And this light-hearted Maiden constant is as he.— High is her aim as heaven above, And wide as ether her good-will, And, like the lowly reed, her love Can drink its nurture from the scantiest rill; Insight as keen as frosty star Is to her charity no bar, Nor interrupts her frolic graces When she is, far from these wild places, Encircled by familiar faces. O the charm that manners draw, Nature, from thy genuine law! If from what her hand would do, Her voice would utter, there ensue Aught untoward or unfit, She, in benign affections pure, In self-forgetfulness secure, Sheds round the transient harm or vague mischance A light unknown to tutored elegance: Her’s is not a cheek shame-stricken, But her blushes are joy-flushes— And the fault (if fault it be) Only ministers to quicken Laughter-loving gaiety, And kindle sportive wit— Leaving this Daughter of the mountains free As if she knew that Oberon king of Faery Had crossed her purpose with some quaint vagary, And heard his viewless bands Over their mirthful triumph clapping hands. “Last of the Three, though eldest born,

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622â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Reveal thyself, like pensive morn, Touched by the skylark’s earliest note, Ere humbler gladness be afloat. But whether in the semblance drest Of dawn—or eve, fair vision of the west, Come with each anxious hope subdued By woman’s gentle fortitude, Each grief, through meekness, settling into rest. —Or I would hail thee when some high-wrought page Of a closed volume lingering in thy hand Has raised thy spirit to a peaceful stand Among the glories of a happier age.” —Her brow hath opened on me—see it there, Brightening the umbrage of her hair; So gleams the crescent moon, that loves To be descried through shady groves. —Tenderest bloom is on her cheek; Wish not for a richer streak— Nor dread the depth of meditative eye; But let thy love, upon that azure field Of thoughtfulness and beauty, yield Its homage offered up in purity.— What would’st thou more? In sunny glade Or under leaves of thickest shade, Was such a stillness e’er diffused Since earth grew calm while angels mused? Softly she treads, as if her foot were loth To crush the mountain dew-drops, soon to melt On the flower’s breast; as if she felt That flowers themselves, whate’er their hue, With all their fragrance, all their glistening, Call to the heart for inward listening; And though for bridal wreaths and tokens true Welcomed wisely—though a growth Which the careless shepherd sleeps on, As fitly spring from turf the mourner weeps on, And without wrong are cropped the marble tomb to strew. The charm is over; the mute phantoms gone, Nor will return—but droop not, favoured Youth;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 623 The apparition that before thee shone Obeyed a summons covetous of truth. From these wild rocks thy footsteps I will guide To bowers in which thy fortune may be tried, And one of the bright Three become thy happy Bride!

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Stanzas on the power of sound

Argument. The Ear addressed, as occupied by a spiritual functionary, in communion with sounds, individual, or combined in studied harmony.—Sources and effects of those sounds (to the close of 6th Stanza).—The power of music, whence proceeding,€exemplified in the idiot.—Origin of music, and its effect in early ages—how produced (to the middle of 10th Stanza).—The mind recalled to sounds acting casually and severally.—Wish uttered (11th Stanza) that these could be united into a scheme or system for moral interests and intellectual contemplation.—(Stanza 12th.) The Pythagorean theory of numbers and music, with their supposed power over the motions of the universe—imaginations consonant with such a theory.—Wish expressed (in 11th Stanza) realised, in some degree, by the representation of all sounds under the form of thanksgiving to the Creator.—(Last Stanza) the destruction of earth and the planetary system—the survival of audible harmony, and its support in the Divine Nature, as revealed in Holy Writ.

On the Power of Sound 1 Thy functions are etherial, As if within thee dwelt a glancing Mind, Organ of Vision! And a Spirit aerial Informs the cell of hearing, dark and blind; Intricate labyrinth, more dread for thought To enter than oracular cave; Strict passage, through which sighs are brought, And whispers, for the heart, their slave; And shrieks, that revel in abuse Of shivering flesh; and warbled air,

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624â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Whose piercing sweetness can unloose The chains of frenzy, or entice a smile Into the ambush of despair; Hosannas pealing down the long-drawn aisle, And requiems answered by the pulse that beats Devoutly, in life’s last retreats!

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2 The headlong Streams and Fountains Serve Thee, Invisible Spirit, with untired powers; Cheering the wakeful Tent on Syrian mountains, They lull perchance ten thousand thousand flowers. That roar, the prowling Lion’s Here I am, How fearful to the desert wide! That bleat, how tender! of the Dam Calling a straggler to her side. Shout, Cuckoo! let the vernal soul Go with thee to the frozen zone; Toll from thy loftiest perch, lone Bell-bird, toll! At the still hour to Mercy dear, Mercy from her twilight throne Listening to Nun’s faint sob of holy fear, To Sailor’s prayer breathed from a darkening sea, Or Widow’s cottage lullaby.

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3 Ye Voices, and ye Shadows, And Images of voice—to hound and horn From rocky steep and rock-bestudded meadows Flung back, and, in the sky’s blue caves, reborn, On with your pastime! till the church-tower bells A greeting give of measured glee; And milder echoes from their cells Repeat the bridal symphony. Then, or far earlier, let us rove Where mists are breaking up or gone, And from aloft look down into a cove Besprinkled with a careless quire, Happy Milk-maids, one by one

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 625 Scattering a ditty each to her desire, A liquid concert matchless by nice Art, A stream as if from one full heart. 4 Blest be the song that brightens The blind Man’s gloom, exalts the Veteran’s mirth; Unscorned the Peasant’s whistling breath, that lightens His duteous toil of furrowing the green earth. For the tired Slave, Song lifts the languid oar, And bids it aptly fall, with chime That beautifies the fairest shore, And mitigates the harshest clime. Yon Pilgrims see—in lagging file They move; but soon the appointed way A choral Ave Marie shall beguile, And to their hope the distant shrine Glisten with a livelier ray: Nor friendless He, the Prisoner of the Mine, Who from the well-spring of his own clear breast Can draw, and sing his griefs to rest.

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5 When civic renovation Dawns on a kingdom, and for needful haste Best eloquence avails not, Inspiration Mounts with a tune, that travels like a blast Piping through cave and battlemented tower; Then starts the Sluggard, pleased to meet That voice of Freedom, in its power Of promises, shrill, wild, and sweet! Who, from a martial pageant, spreads Incitements of a battle-day, Thrilling the unweaponed crowd with plumeless heads; Even She whose Lydian airs inspire Peaceful striving, gentle play Of timid hope and innocent desire Shot from the dancing Graces, as they move Fanned by the plausive wings of Love.

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626â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth 6 How oft along thy mazes, Regent of Sound, have dangerous Passions trod! O Thou, through whom the Temple rings with praises, And blackening clouds in thunder speak of God, Betray not by the cozenage of sense Thy Votaries, wooingly resigned To a voluptuous influence That taints the purer, better mind; But lead sick Fancy to a harp That hath in noble tasks been tried; And, if the Virtuous feel a pang too sharp, Soothe it into patience,—stay The uplifted arm of Suicide; And let some mood of thine in firm array Knit every thought the impending issue needs, Ere Martyr burns, or Patriot bleeds!

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7 As Conscience, to the centre Of Being, smites with irresistible pain, So shall a solemn cadence, if it enter The mouldy vaults of the dull Idiot’s brain, Transmute him to a wretch from quiet hurled— Convulsed as by a jarring din; And then aghast, as at the world Of reason partially let in By concords winding with a sway Terrible for sense and soul! Or, awed he weeps, struggling to quell dismay. Point not these mysteries to an Art Lodged above the starry pole; Pure modulations flowing from the heart Of divine Love, where Wisdom, Beauty, Truth With Order dwell, in endless youth? 8 Oblivion may not cover All treasures hoarded by the Miser, Time.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 627 Orphean Insight! Truth’s undaunted Lover, To the first leagues of tutored passion climb, When Music deigned within this grosser sphere Her subtle essence to enfold, And Voice and Shell drew forth a tear Softer than Nature’s self could mould. Yet strenuous was the infant Age: Art, daring because souls could feel, Stirred nowhere but an urgent equipage Of rapt imagination sped her march Through the realms of woe and weal: Hell to the lyre bowed low; the upper arch Rejoiced that clamorous spell and magic verse Her wan disasters could disperse.

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9 The Gift to King Amphion That walled a city with its melody Was for belief no dream; thy skill, Arion! Could humanise the creatures of the sea, Where men were monsters. A last grace he craves, Leave for one chant;— the dulcet sound Steals from the deck o’er willing waves, And listening Dolphins gather round. Self-cast, as with a desperate course, ’Mid that strange audience, he bestrides A proud One docile as a managed horse; And singing, while the accordant hand Sweeps his harp, the Master rides; So shall he touch at length a friendly strand, And he, with his Preserver, shine star-bright In memory, through silent night.

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10 The pipe of Pan, to Shepherds Couched in the shadow of Menalian Pines, Was passing sweet; the eyeballs of the Leopards, That in high triumph drew the Lord of vines, How did they sparkle to the cymbal’s clang!

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628â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth While Fauns and Satyrs beat the ground In cadence,—and Silenus swang This way and that, with wild-flowers crowned. To life, to life give back thine Ear: Ye who are longing to be rid Of Fable, though to truth subservient, hear The little sprinkling of cold earth that fell Echoed from the coffin lid; The Convict’s summons in the steeple knell; “The vain distress-gun,” from a leeward shore, Repeated—heard, and heard no more!

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11 For terror, joy, or pity, Vast is the compass, and the swell of notes: From the Babe’s first cry to voice of regal City, Rolling a solemn sea-like bass, that floats Far as the woodlands—with the trill to blend Of that shy Songstress, whose love-tale Might tempt an Angel to descend, While hovering o’er the moonlight vale. O for some soul-affecting scheme Of moral music, to unite Wanderers whose portion is the faintest dream Of memory!—O that they might stoop to bear Chains, such precious chains of sight As laboured minstrelsies through ages wear! O for a balance fit the truth to tell Of the Unsubstantial, pondered well!

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12 By one pervading Spirit Of tones and numbers all things are controlled, As Sages taught, where faith was found to merit Initiation in that mystery old. The Heavens, whose aspect makes our minds as still As they themselves appear to be, Innumerable voices fill With everlasting harmony;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 629 The towering Headlands, crowned with mist, Their feet among the billows, know That Ocean is a mighty harmonist; Thy pinions, universal Air, Ever waving to and fro, Are delegates of harmony, and bear Strains that support the Seasons in their round; Stern Winter loves a dirge-like sound.

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13 Break forth into thanksgiving, Ye banded Instruments of wind and chords; Unite, to magnify the Ever-living, Your inarticulate notes with the voice of words! Nor hushed be service from the lowing mead, Nor mute the forest hum of noon; Thou too be heard, lone Eagle! freed From snowy peak and cloud, attune Thy hungry barkings to the hymn Of joy, that from her utmost walls The six-days’ Work, by flaming Seraphim, Transmits to Heaven! As Deep to Deep Shouting through one valley calls, All worlds, all natures, mood and measure keep For praise and ceaseless gratulation, poured Into the ear of God, their Lord!

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14 A Voice to Light gave Being; To Time, and Man his earth-born Chronicler; A Voice shall finish doubt and dim foreseeing, And sweep away life’s visionary stir; The Trumpet (we, intoxicate with pride, Arm at its blast for deadly wars) To archangelic lips applied, The grave shall open, quench the stars. O Silence! are Man’s noisy years No more than moments of thy life? Is Harmony, blest Queen of smiles and tears,

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630â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth With her smooth tones and discords just, Tempered into rapturous strife, Thy destined Bond-slave? No! though Earth be dust And vanish, though the Heavens dissolve, her stay Is in the Word, that shall not pass away.

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The Egyptian Maid; or, the romance of the water lily

[For the name and persons in the following poem, see the “History of the renowned Prince Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table;” for the rest the Author is answerable; only it may be proper to add, that the Lotus, with the bust of the goddess appearing to rise out of the full-blown flower, was suggested by the beautiful work of ancient art, once included among the Townley Marbles, and now in the British Museum.]

â•… While Merlin paced the Cornish sands, â•… Forth-looking toward the Rocks of Scilly, â•… The pleased Enchanter was aware â•… Of a bright Ship that seemed to hang in air, â•… Yet was she work of mortal hands, And took from men her name—The Water Lily. â•… Soft was the wind, that landward blew; â•… And, as the Moon, o’er some dark hill ascendant, â•… Grows from a little edge of light â•… To a full orb, this Pinnace bright, â•… Became, as nearer to the Coast she drew, More glorious, with spread sail and streaming pendant. â•… Upon this wingèd Shape so fair â•… Sage Merlin gazed with admiration: â•… Her lineaments, thought he, surpass â•… Aught that was ever shown in magic glass; â•… Was ever built with patient care; Or, at a touch, set forth with wondrous transformation. â•… Now, though a Mechanist, whose skill â•… Shames the degenerate grasp of modern science, â•… Grave Merlin (and belike the more

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 631 â•… For practising occult and perilous lore) â•… Was subject to a freakish will That sapped good thoughts, or scared them with defiance. â•… Provoked to envious spleen, he cast â•… An altered look upon the advancing Stranger â•… Whom he had hailed with joy, and cried, â•… “My Art shall help to tame her pride—” â•… Anon the breeze became a blast, And the waves rose, and sky portended danger. â•… With thrilling word, and potent sign â•… Traced on the beach, his work the Sorcerer urges; â•… The clouds in blacker clouds are lost, â•… Like spiteful Fiends that vanish, crossed â•… By Fiends of aspect more malign; And the winds roused the Deep with fiercer scourges. â•… But worthy of the name she bore â•… Was this Sea-flower, this buoyant Galley; â•… Supreme in loveliness and grace â•… Of motion, whether in the embrace â•… Of trusty anchorage, or scudding o’er The main flood roughened into hill and valley. â•… Behold, how wantonly she laves â•… Her sides, the Wizard’s craft confounding; â•… Like something out of Ocean sprung â•… To be for ever fresh and young, â•… Breasts the sea-flashes, and huge waves Top-gallant high, rebounding and rebounding! â•… But Ocean under magic heaves, â•… And cannot spare the Thing he cherished: â•… Ah! what avails that She was fair, â•… Luminous, blithe, and debonair? â•… The storm has stripped her of her leaves; The Lily floats no longer!—She hath perished. â•… Grieve for her,—She deserves no less; â•… So like, yet so unlike, a living Creature! â•… No heart had she, no busy brain;

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632â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Though loved, she could not love again; â•… Though pitied, feel her own distress; Nor aught that troubles us, the fools of Nature. â•… Yet is there cause for gushing tears; â•… So richly was this Galley laden; â•… A fairer than Herself she bore, â•… And, in her struggles, cast ashore; â•… A lovely One, who nothing hears Of wind or wave—a meek and guileless Maiden. â•… Into a cave had Merlin fled â•… From mischief, caused by spells himself had muttered; â•… And, while repentant all too late, â•… In moody posture there he sate, â•… He heard a voice, and saw, with half-raised head, A Visitant by whom these words were uttered: â•… “On Christian service this frail Bark â•… Sailed” (hear me, Merlin!) “under high protection, â•… Though on her prow a sign of heathen power â•… Was carved—a Goddess with a Lily flower, â•… The old Egyptian’s emblematic mark Of joy immortal and of pure affection. â•… “Her course was for the British strand, â•… Her freight it was a Damsel peerless; â•… God reigns above, and Spirits strong â•… May gather to avenge this wrong â•… Done to the Princess, and her Land Which she in duty left, though sad not cheerless. â•… “And to Caerleon’s loftiest tower â•… Soon will the Knights of Arthur’s Table â•… A cry of lamentation send; â•… And all will weep who there attend, â•… To grace that Stranger’s bridal hour, For whom the sea was made unnavigable. â•… “Shame! should a Child of Royal Line â•… Die through the blindness of thy malice:” â•… Thus to the Necromancer spake

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 633 â•… Nina, the Lady of the Lake, â•… A gentle Sorceress, and benign, Who ne’er embittered any good man’s chalice. â•… “What boots,” continued she, “to mourn? â•… To expiate thy sin endeavour! â•… From the bleak isle where she is laid, â•… Fetched by our art, the Egyptian Maid â•… May yet to Arthur’s court be borne Cold as she is, ere life be fled for ever. â•… “My pearly Boat, a shining Light, â•… That brought me down that sunless river, â•… Will bear me on from wave to wave, â•… And back with her to this sea-cave; â•… Then Merlin! for a rapid flight Through air to thee my charge will I deliver. â•… “The very swiftest of thy Cars â•… Must, when my part is done, be ready; â•… Meanwhile, for further guidance, look â•… Into thy own prophetic book; â•… And, if that fail, consult the Stars To learn thy course; farewell! be prompt and steady.” â•… This scarcely spoken, she again â•… Was seated in her gleaming Shallop, â•… That, o’er the yet-distempered Deep, â•… Pursued its way with bird-like sweep, â•… Or like a steed, without a rein, Urged o’er the wilderness in sportive gallop. â•… Soon did the gentle Nina reach â•… That Isle without a house or haven; â•… Landing, she found not what she sought, â•… Nor saw of wreck or ruin aught â•… But a carved Lotus cast upon the shore By the fierce waves, a flower in marble graven. â•… Sad relique, but how fair the while! â•… For gently each from each retreating â•… With backward curve, the leaves revealed

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634â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… The bosom half, and half concealed, â•… Of a Divinity, that seemed to smile On Nina as she passed, with hopeful greeting.â•… â•… No quest was hers of vague desire, â•… Of tortured hope and purpose shaken; â•… Following the margin of a bay, â•… She spied the lonely Cast-away, â•… Unmarred, unstripped of her attire, But with closed eyes,—of breath and bloom forsaken. â•… Then Nina, stooping down, embraced, â•… With tenderness and mild emotion, â•… The Damsel, in that trance embound; â•… And, while she raised her from the ground, â•… And in the pearly shallop placed, Sleep fell upon the air, and stilled the ocean. â•… The turmoil hushed, celestial springs â•… Of music opened, and there came a blending â•… Of fragrance, underived from earth, â•… With gleams that owed not to the Sun their birth, â•… And that soft rustling of invisible wings Which Angels make, on works of love descending. â•… And Nina heard a sweeter voice â•… Than if the Goddess of the Flower had spoken: â•… “Thou hast achieved, fair Dame! what none â•… Less pure in spirit could have done; â•… Go, in thy enterprise rejoice! Air, earth, sea, sky, and heaven, success betoken.” â•… So cheered she left that Island bleak, â•… A bare rock of the Scilly cluster; â•… And, as they traversed the smooth brine, â•… The self-illumined Brigantine â•… Shed, on the Slumberer’s cold wan cheek And pallid brow, a melancholy lustre. â•… Fleet was their course, and when they came â•… To the dim cavern, whence the river â•… Issued into the salt-sea flood,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 635 â•… Merlin, as fixed in thought he stood, â•… Was thus accosted by the Dame: “Behold to thee my Charge I now deliver! â•… “But where attends thy chariot—where?” â•… Quoth Merlin, “Even as I was bidden, â•… So have I done; as trusty as thy barge â•… My vehicle shall prove—O precious Charge! â•… If this be sleep, how soft! if death, how fair! Much have my books disclosed, but the end is hidden.” â•… He spake, and gliding into view â•… Forth from the grotto’s dimmest chamber Came two mute Swans, whose plumes of dusky white â•… Changed, as the pair approached the light, â•… Drawing an ebon car, their hue (Like clouds of sunset) into lucid amber. â•… Once more did gentle Nina lift â•… The Princess, passive to all changes: â•… The car received her; then up-went â•… Into the ethereal element â•… The Birds with progress smooth and swift As thought, when through bright regions memory ranges. â•… Sage Merlin, at the Slumberer’s side, â•… Instructs the Swans their way to measure; â•… And soon Caerleon’s towers appeared, â•… And notes of minstrelsy were heard â•… From rich pavilions spreading wide, For some high day of long-expected pleasure. â•… Awe-stricken stood both Knights and Dames â•… Ere on firm ground the car alighted; â•… Eftsoons astonishment was past, â•… For in that face they saw the last â•… Last lingering look of clay, that tames All pride, by which all happiness is blighted. â•… Said Merlin, “Mighty King, fair Lords, â•… Away with feast and tilt and tourney! â•… Ye saw, throughout this Royal House,

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636â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Ye heard, a rocking marvellous â•… Of turrets, and a clash of swords Self-shaken, as I closed my airy journey. â•… “Lo! by a destiny well known â•… To mortals, joy is turned to sorrow; â•… This is the wished-for Bride, the Maid â•… Of Egypt, from a rock conveyed â•… Where she by shipwreck had been thrown; Ill sight! but grief may vanish ere the morrow.” â•… “Though vast thy power, thy words are weak,” â•… Exclaimed the King, “a mockery hateful; â•… Dutiful Child! her lot how hard! â•… Is this her piety’s reward? â•… Those watery locks, that bloodless cheek! O winds without remorse! O shore ungrateful! â•… “Rich robes are fretted by the moth; â•… Towers, temples, fall by stroke of thunder; â•… Will that, or deeper thoughts, abate â•… A Father’s sorrow for her fate? â•… He will repent him of his troth; His brain will burn, his stout heart split asunder. â•… “Alas! and I have caused this woe; â•… For, when my prowess from invading Neighbours â•… Had freed his Realm, he plighted word â•… That he would turn to Christ our Lord, â•… And his dear Daughter on a Knight bestow Whom I should choose for love and matchless labours. â•… “Her birth was heathen, but a fence â•… Of holy Angels round her hovered; â•… A Lady added to my court â•… So fair, of such divine report â•… And worship, seemed a recompence For fifty kingdoms by my sword recovered. â•… “Ask not for whom, O champions true! â•… She was reserved by me her life’s betrayer; â•… She who was meant to be a bride

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 637 â•… Is now a corse; then put aside â•… Vain thoughts, and speed ye, with observance due Of Christian rites, in Christian ground to lay her.” â•… “The tomb,” said Merlin, “may not close â•… Upon her yet, earth hide her beauty; â•… Not froward to thy sovereign will â•… Esteem me, Liege! if I, whose skill â•… Wafted her hither, interpose To check this pious haste of erring duty. â•… “My books command me to lay bare â•… The secret thou art bent on keeping; â•… Here must a high attest be given, â•… What Bridegroom was for her ordained by Heaven; â•… And in my glass significants there are Of things that may to gladness turn this weeping. â•… “For this, approaching, One by One, â•… Thy Knights must touch the cold hand of the Virgin; â•… So, for the favoured One, the Flower may bloom â•… Once more; but, if unchangeable her doom, â•… If life departed be for ever gone, Some blest assurance, from this cloud emerging, â•… May teach him to bewail his loss; â•… Not with a grief that, like a vapour, rises â•… And melts; but grief devout that shall endure, â•… And a perpetual growth secure â•… Of purposes which no false thought shall cross, A harvest of high hopes and noble enterprises.” â•… “So be it,” said the King;—”anon, â•… Here, where the Princess lies, begin the trial; â•… Knights each in order as ye stand â•… Step forth.”—To touch the pallid hand â•… Sir Agravaine advanced; no sign he won From Heaven or Earth;—Sir Kaye had like denial. â•… Abashed, Sir Dinas turned away; â•… Even for Sir Percival was no disclosure; â•… Though he, devoutest of all Champions, ere

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638â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… He reached that ebon car, the bier â•… Whereon diffused like snow the Damsel lay, Full thrice had crossed himself in meek composure. â•… Imagine (but ye Saints! who can?) â•… How in still air the balance trembled; â•… The wishes, peradventure the despites â•… That overcame some not ungenerous Knights; â•… And all the thoughts that lengthened out a span Of time to Lords and Ladies thus assembled. â•… What patient confidence was here! â•… And there how many bosoms panted! â•… While drawing toward the Car Sir Gawaine, mailed â•… For tournament, his Beaver vailed, â•… And softly touched; but, to his princely cheer And high expectancy, no sign was granted. â•… Next, disencumbered of his harp, â•… Sir Tristram, dear to thousands as a brother, â•… Came to proof, nor grieved that there ensued â•… No change;—the fair Izonda he had wooed â•… With love too true, a love with pangs too sharp, From hope too distant, not to dread another. â•… Not so Sir Launcelot;—from Heaven’s grace â•… A sign he craved, tired slave of vain contrition; â•… The royal Guinever looked passing glad â•… When his touch failed.—Next came Sir Galahad; â•… He paused, and stood entranced by that still face Whose features he had seen in noontide vision. â•… For late, as near a murmuring stream â•… He rested ’mid an arbour green and shady, â•… Nina, the good Enchantress, shed â•… A light around his mossy bed; â•… And, at her call, a waking dream Prefigured to his sense the Egyptian Lady. â•… Now, while his bright-haired front he bowed, â•… And stood, far-kenned by mantle furred with ermine, â•… As o’er the insensate Body hung

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 639 â•… The enrapt, the beautiful, the young, â•… Belief sank deep into the crowd That he the solemn issue would determine. â•… Nor deem it strange; the Youth had worn â•… That very mantle on a day of glory, â•… The day when he achieved that matchless feat, â•… The marvel of the Perilous Seat, â•… Which whosoe’er approached of strength was shorn, Though King or Knight the most renowned in story.

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â•… He touched with hesitating hand, 320 â•… And lo! those Birds, far-famed through Love’s dominions, â•… The Swans, in triumph clap their wings; â•… And their necks play, involved in rings, â•… Like sinless snakes in Eden’s happy land;— “Mine is she,” cried the Knight;—again they clapped their pinions. â•… “Mine was she—mine she is, though dead, â•… And to her name my soul shall cleave in sorrow;” â•… Whereat, a tender twilight streak â•… Of colour dawned upon the Damsel’s cheek; â•… And her lips, quickening with uncertain red, Seemed from each other a faint warmth to borrow. â•… Deep was the awe, the rapture high, â•… Of love emboldened, hope with dread entwining, â•… When, to the mouth, relenting Death â•… Allowed a soft and flower-like breath, â•… Precursor to a timid sigh, To lifted eyelids, and a doubtful shining. â•… In silence did King Arthur gaze â•… Upon the signs that pass away or tarry; â•… In silence watched the gentle strife â•… Of Nature leading back to life; â•… Then eased his Soul at length by praise Of God, and Heaven’s pure Queen—the blissful Mary. â•… Then said he, “Take her to thy heart â•… Sir Galahad! a treasure that God giveth, â•… Bound by indissoluble ties to thee

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640â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Through mortal change and immortality; â•… Be happy and unenvied, thou who art A goodly Knight that hath no Peer that liveth!” â•… Not long the Nuptials were delayed; â•… And sage tradition still rehearses â•… The pomp the glory of that hour â•… When toward the Altar from her bower â•… King Arthur led the Egyptian Maid, And Angels carolled these far-echoed verses;— Who shrinks not from alliance Of evil with good Powers, To God proclaims defiance, And mocks whom he adores. A Ship to Christ devoted From the Land of Nile did go; Alas! the bright Ship floated, An Idol at her Prow. By magic domination, The Heaven-permitted vent Of purblind mortal passion, Was wrought her punishment. The Flower, the Form within it, What served they in her need? Her port she could not win it, Nor from mishap be freed.

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The tempest overcame her, And she was seen no more; But gently gently blame her, She cast a Pearl ashore. The Maid to Jesu hearkened, And kept to him her faith, Till sense in death was darkened, Or sleep akin to death. But Angels round her pillow

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 641 Kept watch, a viewless band; And, billow favouring billow, She reached the destined strand. Blest Pair! whate’er befall you, Your faith in Him approve Who from frail earth can call you, To bowers of endless love!

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A Jewish Family (in a small valley opposite st. goar, upon the rhine) Genius of Raphael! if thy wings â•… Might bear thee to this glen, With faithful memory left of things â•… To pencil dear and pen, Thou wouldst forego the neighbouring Rhine, â•… And all his majesty, A studious forehead to incline â•… O’er this poor family. The Mother––her thou must have seen, â•… In spirit, ere she came To dwell these rifted rocks between, â•… Or found on earth a name; An image, too, of that sweet Boy, â•… Thy inspirations give: Of playfulness, and love, and joy, â•… Predestined here to live. Downcast, or shooting glances far, â•… How beautiful his eyes, That blend the nature of the star â•… With that of summer skies! I speak as if of sense beguiled; â•… Uncounted months are gone, Yet am I with the Jewish Child, â•… That exquisite Saint John. I see the dark brown curls, the brow, â•… The smooth transparent skin,

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642â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Refined, as with intent to show â•… The holiness within; The grace of parting Infancy â•… By blushes yet untamed; Age faithful to the mother’s knee, â•… Nor of her arms ashamed. Two lovely Sisters, still and sweet â•… As flowers, stand side by side; Their soul–subduing looks might cheat â•… The Christian of his pride: Such beauty hath the Eternal poured â•… Upon them not forlorn, Though of a lineage once abhorred, â•… Nor yet redeemed from scorn. Mysterious safeguard, that, in spite â•… Of poverty and wrong, Doth here preserve a living light, â•… From Hebrew fountains sprung; That gives this ragged group to cast â•… Around the dell a gleam Of Palestine, of glory past, â•… And proud Jerusalem!

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The Poet and the Caged Turtledove As often as I murmur here â•… My half-formed melodies, Straight from her osier mansion near, â•… The Turtledove replies: Though silent as a leaf before, â•… The captive promptly coos; Is it to teach her own soft lore, â•… Or second my weak Muse? I rather think, the gentle Dove â•… Is murmuring a reproof, Displeased that I from lays of love â•… Have dared to keep aloof; That I, a Bard of hill and dale,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 643 â•… Have caroll’d, fancy free, As if nor dove, nor nightingale, â•… Had heart or voice for me.

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If such thy meaning, O forbear, â•… Sweet Bird! to do me wrong; Love, blessed Love, is every where â•… The spirit of my song: ’Mid grove, and by the calm fireside, â•… Love animates my lyre; That coo again!—’tis not to chide, â•… I feel, but to inspire.

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Written in Mrs. Field’s Album Opposite a Pen-and-ink Sketch in the Manner of a Rembrandt Etching done by Edmund Field That gloomy cave, that gothic nich, Those trees that forward lean As if enamoured of the brook— How soothing is the scene! No witchery of inky words Can such illusions yield; Yet all (ye Landscape Poets blush!) Was penned by Edmund Field. The Russian Fugitive [Peter Henry Bruce, having given in his entertaining Memoirs the substance of the following Tale, affirms, that, besides the concurring reports of others, he had the story from the Lady’s own mouth. The Lady Catherine, mentioned towards the close, was the famous Catherine, then bearing that name as the acknowledged Wife of Peter the Great.]

The Russian Fugitive part i

1 Enough of rose-bud lips, and eyes â•… Like harebells bathed in dew, Of cheek that with carnation vies,

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644â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… And veins of violet hue; Earth wants not beauty that may scorn â•… A likening to frail flowers; Yea, to the stars, if they were born â•… For seasons and for hours.

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2 Through Moscow’s gates, with gold unbarred, â•… Stepped one at dead of night, Whom such high beauty could not guard â•… From meditated blight; By stealth she passed, and fled as fast â•… As doth the hunted fawn, Nor stopped, till in the dappling east â•… Appeared unwelcome dawn.

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3 Seven days she lurked in brake and field, â•… Seven nights her course renewed, Sustained by what her scrip might yield, â•… Or berries of the wood; At length, in darkness travelling on, â•… When lowly doors were shut, The haven of her hope she won, â•… Her Foster-mother’s hut.

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4 “To put your love to dangerous proof â•… I come,” said she, “from far; For I have left my Father’s roof, â•… In terror of the Czar.” No answer did the Matron give, â•… No second look she cast; She hung upon the Fugitive, â•… Embracing and embraced. 5 She led her Lady to a seat â•… Beside the glimmering fire,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 645 Bathed duteously her wayworn feet, â•… Prevented each desire: The cricket chirped, the house-dog dozed, â•… And on that simple bed, Where she in childhood had reposed, â•… Now rests her weary head.

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6 When she, whose couch had been the sod, â•… Whose curtain pine or thorn, Had breathed a sigh of thanks to God, â•… Who comforts the forlorn; While over her the Matron bent â•… Sleep sealed her eyes, and stole Feeling from limbs with travel spent, â•… And trouble from the soul.

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7 Refreshed, the Wanderer rose at morn, â•… And soon again was dight In those unworthy vestments worn â•… Through long and perilous flight; And “O beloved Nurse,” she said, â•… “My thanks with silent tears Have unto Heaven and You been paid: â•… Now listen to my fears!

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8 “Have you forgot”—and here she smiled— â•… “The babbling flatteries You lavished on me when a child â•… Disporting round your knees? I was your lambkin, and your bird, â•… Your star, your gem, your flower; Light words, that were more lightly heard â•… In many a cloudless hour!

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9 “The blossom you so fondly praised

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646â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Is come to bitter fruit; A mighty One upon me gazed; â•… I spurned his lawless suit, And must be hidden from his wrath: â•… You, Foster-father dear, Will guide me in my forward path; â•… I may not tarry here!

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10 “I cannot bring to utter woe â•… Your proved fidelity.”— “Dear Child, sweet Mistress, say not so! â•… For you we both would die.” “Nay, nay, I come with semblance feigned â•… And cheek embrowned by art; Yet, being inwardly unstained, â•… With courage will depart.”

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11 “But whither would you, could you, flee? â•… A poor Man’s counsel take; The Holy Virgin gives to me â•… A thought for your dear sake; Rest shielded by our Lady’s grace; â•… And soon shall you be led Forth to a safe abiding-place, â•… Where never foot doth tread.”

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The Russian Fugitive part ii

1 The Dwelling of this faithful pair â•… In a straggling village stood, For One who breathed unquiet air â•… A dangerous neighbourhood; But wide around lay forest ground â•… With thickets rough and blind;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 647 And pine-trees made a heavy shade â•… Impervious to the wind.

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2 And there, sequestered from the sight, â•… Was spread a treacherous swamp, On which the noonday sun shed light â•… As from a lonely lamp; And midway in the unsafe morass, â•… A single Island rose Of firm dry ground, with healthful grass â•… Adorned, and shady boughs.

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3 The Woodman knew, for such the craft â•… This Russian Vassal plied, That never fowler’s gun, nor shaft â•… Of archer, there was tried; A sanctuary seemed the spot â•… From all intrusion free; And there he planned an artful Cot â•… For perfect secrecy.

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4 With earnest pains unchecked by dread â•… Of Power’s far-stretching hand, The bold good Man his labour sped â•… At nature’s pure command; Heart-soothed, and busy as a wren, â•… While, in a hollow nook, She moulds her sight-eluding den â•… Above a murmuring brook.

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5 His task accomplished to his mind, â•… The twain ere break of day Creep forth, and through the forest wind â•… Their solitary way; Few words they speak, nor dare to slack

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648â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Their pace from mile to mile, Till they have crossed the quaking marsh, â•… And reached the lonely Isle. 6 The sun above the pine-trees showed â•… A bright and cheerful face; And Ina looked for her abode, â•… The promised hiding-place; She sought in vain, the Woodman smiled; â•… No threshold could be seen, Nor roof, nor window; all seemed wild â•… As it had ever been.

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7 Advancing, you might guess an hour, â•… The front with such nice care Is masked, “if house it be or bower,” â•… But in they entered are; As shaggy as were wall and roof â•… With branches intertwined, So smooth was all within, air-proof, â•… And delicately lined.

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8 And hearth was there, and maple dish, â•… And cups in seemly rows, And couch—all ready to a wish â•… For nurture or repose; And Heaven doth to her virtue grant â•… That here she may abide In solitude, with every want â•… By cautious love supplied.

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9 No Queen, before a shouting crowd, â•… Led on in bridal state, E’er struggled with a heart so proud, â•… Entering her palace gate;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 649 Rejoiced to bid the world farewell, â•… No saintly Anchoress E’er took possession of her cell â•… With deeper thankfulness.

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10 “Father of all, upon thy care â•… And mercy am I thrown; Be thou my safeguard!”—such her prayer â•… When she was left alone, Kneeling amid the wilderness â•… When joy had passed away, And smiles, fond efforts of distress â•… To hide what they betray!

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11 The prayer is heard, the Saints have seen, â•… Diffused through form and face, Resolves devotedly serene; â•… That monumental grace Of Faith, which doth all passions tame â•… That Reason should control; And shows in the untrembling frame â•… A statue of the soul.

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The Russian Fugitive part iii

1 ’Tis sung in ancient minstrelsy â•… That Phœbus wont to wear “The leaves of any pleasant tree â•… Around his golden hair,” Till Daphne, desperate with pursuit â•… Of his imperious love, At her own prayer transformed, took root, â•… A laurel in the grove.

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  “From Golding’s Translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. See also his Dedicatory Epistle prefixed to the same work.” WW refers to Arthur Golding’s translation, first published in 1565.

650â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth 2 Then did the Penitent adorn â•… His brow with laurel green; And ’mid his bright locks never shorn â•… No meaner leaf was seen; And Poets sage, through every age, â•… About their temples wound The bay; and Conquerors thanked the Gods, â•… With laurel chaplets crowned.

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3 Into the mists of fabling Time â•… So far runs back the praise Of Beauty, that disdains to climb â•… Along forbidden ways; That scorns temptation; power defies â•… Where mutual love is not; And to the tomb for rescue flies â•… When life would be a blot.

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4 To this fair Votaress, a fate â•… More mild doth Heaven ordain Upon her Island desolate; â•… And words, not breathed in vain, Might tell what intercourse she found, â•… Her silence to endear; What birds she tamed, what flowers the ground â•… Sent forth her peace to cheer.

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5 To one mute Presence, above all, â•… Her soothed affections clung, A picture on the Cabin wall â•… By Russian usage hung— The Mother-maid, whose countenance bright â•… With love abridged the day; And, communed with by taper light, â•… Chased spectral fears away.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 651 6 And oft, as either Guardian came, â•… The joy in that retreat Might any common friendship shame, â•… So high their hearts would beat; And to the lone Recluse, whate’er â•… They brought, each visiting Was like the crowding of the year â•… With a new burst of spring.

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7 But, when she of her Parents thought, â•… The pang was hard to bear; And, if with all things not enwrought, â•… That trouble still is near. Before her flight she had not dared â•… Their constancy to prove, Too much the heroic Daughter feared â•… The weakness of their love.

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8 Dark is the Past to them, and dark â•… The Future still must be, Till pitying Saints conduct her bark â•… Into a safer sea— Or gentle Nature close her eyes, â•… And set her Spirit free From the altar of this sacrifice, â•… In vestal purity.

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9 Yet, when above the forest-glooms â•… The white swans southward passed, High as the pitch of their swift plumes â•… Her fancy rode the blast; And bore her tow’rd the fields of France, â•… Her Father’s native land, To mingle in the rustic dance, â•… The happiest of the band!

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652â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth 10 Of those belovèd fields she oft â•… Had heard her Father tell In phrase that now with echoes soft â•… Haunted her lonely Cell; She saw the hereditary bowers, â•… She heard the ancestral stream; The Kremlin and its haughty towers â•… Forgotten like a dream!

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The Russian Fugitive part iv

1 The ever-changing Moon had traced â•… Twelve times her monthly round, When through the unfrequented Waste â•… Was heard a startling sound; A shout thrice sent from one who chased â•… At speed a wounded Deer, Bounding through branches interlaced, â•… And where the wood was clear.

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2 The fainting Creature took the marsh, â•… And toward the Island fled, While plovers screamed with tumult harsh â•… Above his antlered head; This, Ina saw; and, pale with fear, â•… Shrunk to her citadel; The desperate Deer rushed on, and near â•… The tangled covert fell.

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3 Across the marsh, the game in view, â•… The Hunter followed fast, Nor paused, till o’er the Stag he blew â•… A death-proclaiming blast;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 653 Then, resting on her upright mind, â•… Came forth the Maid—”In me Behold,” she said, “a stricken Hind â•… Pursued by destiny!

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4 “From your deportment, Sir! I deem â•… That you have worn a sword, And will not hold in light esteem â•… A suffering woman’s word; There is my covert, there perchance â•… I might have lain concealed, My fortunes hid, my countenance â•… Not even to you revealed.

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5 “Tears might be shed, and I might pray, â•… Crouching and terrified, That what has been unveiled to day, â•… You would in mystery hide; But I will not defile with dust â•… The knee that bends to adore The God in heaven;—attend, be just: â•… This ask I, and no more!

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6 “I speak not of the winter’s cold, â•… For summer’s heat exchanged, While I have lodged in this rough hold, â•… From social life estranged; Nor yet of trouble and alarms: â•… High Heaven is my defence; And every season has soft arms â•… For injured Innocence.

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7 “From Moscow to the Wilderness â•… It was my choice to come, Lest virtue should be harbourless,

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654â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… And honour want a home; And happy were I, if the Czar â•… Retain his lawless will, To end life here like this poor Deer, â•… Or a Lamb on a green hill.”

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8 “Are you the Maid,” the Stranger cried, â•… “From Gallic Parents sprung, Whose vanishing was rumoured wide, â•… Sad theme for every tongue; Who foiled an Emperor’s eager quest? â•… You, Lady, forced to wear These rude habiliments, and rest â•… Your head in this dark lair!”

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9 But wonder, pity, soon were quelled; â•… And in her face and mien The soul’s pure brightness he beheld â•… Without a veil between: He loved, he hoped,—a holy flame â•… Kindled ’mid rapturous tears; The passion of a moment came â•… As on the wings of years.

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10 “Such bounty is no gift of chance,” â•… Exclaimed he; “righteous Heaven, Preparing your deliverance, â•… To me the charge hath given. The Czar full oft in words and deeds â•… Is stormy and self-willed; But, when the Lady Catherine pleads, â•… His violence is stilled. 11 “Leave open to my wish the course, â•… And I to her will go;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 655 From that humane and heavenly source, â•… Good, only good, can flow.” Faint sanction given, the Cavalier â•… Was eager to depart, Though question followed question, dear â•… To the Maiden’s filial heart.

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12 Light was his step,—his hopes, more light, â•… Kept pace with his desires; And the third morning gave him sight â•… Of Moscow’s glittering spires. He sued:—heart-smitten by the wrong, â•… To the lorn Fugitive The Emperor sent a pledge as strong â•… As sovereign power could give.

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13 O more than mighty change! If e’er â•… Amazement rose to pain, And over-joy produced a fear â•… Of something void and vain, ’Twas when the Parents, who had mourned â•… So long the lost as dead, Beheld their only Child returned, â•… The household floor to tread.

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14 Soon gratitude gave way to love â•… Within the Maiden’s breast: Delivered and Deliverer move â•… In bridal garments drest; Meek Catherine had her own reward; â•… The Czar bestowed a dower; And universal Moscow shared â•… The triumph of that hour. 15 Flowers strewed the ground; the nuptial feast

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656â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Was held with costly state; And there, ’mid many a noble Guest, â•… The Foster-parents sate; Encouraged by the imperial eye, â•… They shrank not into shade; Great was their bliss, the honour high â•… To them and nature paid!

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The Primrose of the Rock A Rock there is whose homely front â•… The passing Traveller slights; Yet there the Glow-worms hang their lamps, â•… Like stars, at various heights; And one coy Primrose to that Rock â•… The vernal breeze invites. What hideous warfare hath been waged, â•… What kingdoms overthrown, Since first I spied that Primrose-tuft â•… And marked it for my own; A lasting link in Nature’s chain â•… From highest Heaven let down! The Flowers, still faithful to the stems, â•… Their fellowship renew; The stems are faithful to the root, â•… That worketh out of view; And to the rock the root adheres â•… In every fibre true. Close clings to earth the living rock, â•… Though threatening still to fall; The earth is constant to her sphere; â•… And God upholds them all: So blooms this lonely Plant, nor dreads â•… Her annual funeral. *â•… *â•… *â•… *â•… * Here closed the meditative Strain; â•… But air breathed soft that day, The hoary mountain-heights were cheered,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 657 â•… The sunny vale looked gay; And to the Primrose of the Rock â•… I gave this after-lay. I sang, Let myraids of bright flowers, â•… Like Thee, in field and grove Revive unenvied,—mightier far â•… Than tremblings that reprove Our vernal tendencies to hope â•… Is God’s redeeming love: That love which changed, for wan disease, â•… For sorrow that had bent O’er hopeless dust, for withered age, â•… Their moral element, And turned the thistles of a curse â•… To types beneficent. Sin-blighted though we are, we too, â•… The reasoning Sons of Men, From one oblivious winter called â•… Shall rise, and breathe again; And in eternal summer lose â•… Our threescore years and ten. To humbleness of heart descends â•… This prescience from on high, The faith that elevates the Just, â•… Before and when they die; And makes each soul a separate heaven, â•… A court for Deity.

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The Armenian Lady’s Love [The subject of the following poem is from the Orlandus of the author’s friend, Kenelm Henry Digby; and the liberty is taken of inscribing it to him as an acknowledgment, however unworthy, of pleasure and instruction derived from his numerous and valuable writings, illustrative of the piety and chivalry of the olden time.]   Author of The Broad Stone of Honour: The True Sense and Practice of Chilvary (London, 1826, 1828,1829)

658â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth 1 â•… You have heard “a Spanish Lady â•…â•… How she wooed an English Man;” â•… Hear now of a fair Armenian, â•…â•… Daughter of the proud Soldàn; How she loved a Christian Slave, and told her pain By word, look, deed, with hope that he might love again.

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2 â•… “Pluck that rose, it moves my liking,” â•…â•… Said she, lifting up her veil; â•… “Pluck it for me, gentle Gardener, â•…â•… Ere it wither and grow pale.” “Princess fair, I till the ground, but may not take From twig or bed an humbler flower, even for your sake.”

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3 â•… “Grieved am I, submissive Christian! â•…â•… To behold thy captive state; â•… Women, in your land, may pity â•…â•… (May they not?) the unfortunate.” “Yes, kind Lady! otherwise Man could not bear Life, which to every one that breathes is full of care.”

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4 â•… “Worse than idle is compassion â•…â•… If it end in tears and sighs; â•… Thee from bondage would I rescue â•…â•… And from vile indignities; Nurtured, as thy mien bespeaks, in high degree, Look up—and help a hand that longs to set thee free.”

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5 â•… “Lady, dread the wish, nor venture â•…â•… In such peril to engage; â•… Think how it would stir against you

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â•… “See, in Percy’s Reliques, that fine old ballad, ‘The Spanish Lady’s Love;’ from which Poem the form of stanza, as suitable to dialogue, is adopted.” WW refers to Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (London, 1765).

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 659 â•…â•… Your most loving Father’s rage: Sad deliverance would it be, and yoked with shame, Should troubles overflow on her from whom it came.”

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6 â•… “Generous Frank! the just in effort â•…â•… Are of inward peace secure; â•… Hardships for the brave encountered, â•…â•… Even the feeblest may endure: If Almighty Grace through me thy chains unbind, My Father for slave’s work may seek a slave in mind.”

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7 â•… “Princess, at this burst of goodness, â•…â•… My long-frozen heart grows warm!” â•… “Yet you make all courage fruitless, â•…â•… Me to save from chance of harm: Leading such Companion I that gilded Dome, Yon Minarets, would gladly leave for his worst home.”

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8 â•… “Feeling tunes your voice, fair Princess! â•…â•… And your brow is free from scorn, â•… Else these words would come like mockery, â•…â•… Sharper than the pointed thorn.” “Whence the undeserved mistrust? Too wide apart Our faith hath been,—O would that eyes could see the heart!”

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9 â•… “Tempt me not, I pray; my doom is â•…â•… These base implements to wield; â•… Rusty Lance, I ne’er shall grasp thee, â•…â•… Ne’er assoil my cobwebb’d shield! Never see my native land, nor castle towers, Nor Her who thinking of me there counts widowed hours.”

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10 â•… “Prisoner! pardon youthful fancies; â•…â•… Wedded? If you can, say no!—

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660â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… Blessed is and be your Consort; â•…â•… Hopes I cherished let them go! Handmaid’s privilege would leave my purpose free, Without another link to my felicity.”

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11 â•… “Wedded love with loyal Christians, â•…â•… Lady, is a mystery rare; â•… Body, heart, and soul in union, â•…â•… Make one being of a pair.” “Humble love in me would look for no return, Soft as a guiding star that cheers, but cannot burn.”

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12 â•… “Gracious Allah! by such title â•…â•… Do I dare to thank the God, â•… Him who thus exalts thy spirit, â•…â•… Flower of an unchristian sod! Or hast thou put off wings which thou in heaven dost wear? What have I seen, and heard, or dreamt? where am I? where?”

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13 â•… Here broke off the dangerous converse: â•…â•… Less impassioned words might tell â•… How the Pair escaped together, â•…â•… Tears not wanting, nor a knell Of sorrow in her heart while through her Father’s door, And from her narrow world, she passed for evermore.

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14 â•… But affections higher, holier, â•…â•… Urged her steps; she shrunk from trust â•… In a sensual creed that trampled â•…â•… Woman’s birthright into dust. Little be the wonder then, the blame be none, If she, a timid Maid, hath put such boldness on.

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15 â•… Judge both Fugitives with knowledge:

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 661 â•…â•… In those old romantic days â•… Mighty were the soul’s commandments â•…â•… To support, restrain, or raise. Foes might hang upon their path, snakes rustle near, But nothing from their inward selves had they to fear.

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16 â•… Thought infirm ne’er came between them, â•…â•… Whether printing desert sands â•… With accordant steps, or gathering â•…â•… Forest-fruit with social hands; Or whispering like two reeds that in the cold moonbeam Bend with the breeze their heads, beside a crystal stream.

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17 â•… On a friendly deck reposing â•…â•… They at length for Venice steer; â•… There, when they had closed their voyage, â•…â•… One, who daily on the Pier Watched for tidings from the East, beheld his Lord, Fell down and clasped his knees for joy, not uttering word.

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18 â•… Mutual was the sudden transport; â•…â•… Breathless questions followed fast, â•… Years contracting to a moment, â•…â•… Each word greedier than the last; “Hie thee to the Countess, Friend! return with speed, And of this Stranger speak by whom her Lord was freed. 19 â•… “Say that I, who might have languished, â•…â•… Drooped and pined till life was spent, â•… Now before the gates of Stolberg â•…â•… My Deliverer would present For a crowning recompence, the precious grace Of her who in my heart still holds her ancient place.

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20 â•… “Make it known that my Companion

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662â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•…â•… Is of royal Eastern blood, â•… Thirsting after all perfection, â•…â•… Innocent, and meek, and good, Though with misbelievers bred; but that dark night Will Holy Church disperse by beams of Gospel Light.”

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21 â•… Swiftly went that grey-haired Servant, â•…â•… Soon returned a trusty Page â•… Charged with greetings, benedictions, â•…â•… Thanks and praises, each a gage For a sunny thought to cheer the Stranger’s way, Her virtuous scruples to remove, her fears allay.

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22 â•… Fancy (while, to banners floating â•…â•… High on Stolberg’s Castle walls, â•… Deafening noise of welcome mounted, â•…â•… Trumpets, Drums, and Atabals,) The devout embraces still, while such tears fell As made a meeting seem most like a dear farewell.

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23 â•… Through a haze of human nature, â•…â•… Glorified by heavenly light, â•… Looked the beautiful Deliverer â•…â•… On that overpowering sight, While across her virgin cheek pure blushes strayed, For every tender sacrifice her heart had made.

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24 â•… On the ground the weeping Countess â•…â•… Knelt, and kissed the Stranger’s hand; â•… Act of soul-devoted homage, â•…â•… Pledge of an eternal band: Nor did aught of future days that kiss belie, Which, with a generous shout, the crowd did ratify.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 663 25 â•… Constant to the fair Armenian, â•…â•… Gentle pleasures round her moved, â•… Like a tutelary Spirit â•…â•… Reverenced, like a Sister, loved. Christian meekness smoothed for all the path of life, Who, loving most, should wiseliest love, their only strife.

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26 â•… Mute Memento of that union â•…â•… In a Saxon Church survives, â•… Where a cross-legged Knight lies sculptured â•…â•… As between two wedded Wives— Figures with armorial signs of race and birth, And the vain rank the Pilgrims bore while yet on earth.

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Rural Illusions 1 Sylph was it? or a Bird more bright â•… Than those of fabulous stock? A second darted by;—and lo! â•… Another of the flock, Through sunshine flitting from the bough â•… To nestle in the rock. Transient deception! a gay freak â•… Of April’s mimicries! Those brilliant Strangers, hailed with joy â•… Among the budding trees, Proved last year’s leaves, pushed from the spray â•… To frolic on the breeze.

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2 Maternal Flora! show thy face, â•… And let thy hand be seen Which sprinkles here these tiny flowers, â•… That, as they touch the green, Take root (so seems it) and look up

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664â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… In honour of their Queen. Yet, sooth, those little starry specks, â•… That not in vain aspired To be confounded with live growths, â•… Most dainty, most admired, Were only blossoms dropped from twigs â•… Of their own offspring tired.

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3 Not such the World’s illusive shows; â•… Her wingless flutterings, Her blossoms which, though shed, outbrave â•… The Floweret as it springs, For the Undeceived, smile as they may, â•… Are melancholy things: But gentle Nature plays her part â•… With ever-varying wiles, And transient feignings with plain truth â•… So well she reconciles, That those fond Idlers most are pleased â•… Whom oftenest she beguiles.

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This Lawn, &c. This Lawn, a carpet all alive With shadows flung from leaves—to strive â•… In dance, amid a press Of sunshine—an apt emblem yields Of Worldlings revelling in the fields â•… Of strenuous idleness; Less quick the stir when tide and breeze Encounter, and to narrow seas â•… Forbid a moment’s rest; The medley less when boreal Lights Glance to and fro like aery Sprites â•… To feats of arms addrest! Yet, spite of all this eager strife, This ceaseless play, the genuine life

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 665 â•… That serves the steadfast hours, Is in the grass beneath, that grows Unheeded, and the mute repose â•… Of sweetly-breathing flowers.

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Presentiments Presentiments! they judge not right Who deem that ye from open light â•… Retire in fear of shame; All heaven-born Instincts shun the touch Of vulgar sense, and, being such, â•… Such privilege ye claim. The tear whose source I could not guess, The deep sigh that seemed fatherless, â•… Were mine in early days; And now, unforced by Time to part With Fancy, I obey my heart, â•… And venture on your praise. What though some busy Foes to good, Too potent over nerve and blood, â•… Lurk near you, and combine To taint the health which ye infuse, This hides not from the moral Muse â•… Your origin divine. How oft from you, derided Powers! Comes Faith that in auspicious hours â•… Builds castles, not of air; Bodings unsanctioned by the will Flow from your visionary skill, â•… And teach us to beware. The bosom-weight, your stubborn gift, That no philosophy can lift, â•… Shall vanish, if ye please, Like morning mist; and, where it lay, The spirits at your bidding play â•… In gaiety and ease.

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666â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Star-guided Contemplations move Through space, though calm, not raised above â•… Prognostics that ye rule; The naked Indian of the Wild, And haply, too, the cradled Child, â•… Are pupils of your school. But who can fathom your intents, Number their signs or instruments? â•… A rainbow, a sunbeam, A subtle smell that Spring unbinds, Dead pause abrupt of midnight winds, â•… An echo, or a dream. The laughter of the Christmas hearth With sighs of self-exhausted mirth â•… Ye feelingly reprove; And daily, in the conscious breast, Your visitations are a test â•… And exercise of love. When some great change gives boundless scope To an exulting Nation’s hope, â•… Oft, startled and made wise By your low-breathed interpretings, The simply-meek foretaste the springs â•… Of bitter contraries. Ye daunt the proud array of War, Pervade the lonely Ocean far â•… As sail hath been unfurled; For Dancers in the festive hall What ghastly Partners hath your call â•… Fetched from the shadowy world! ’Tis said, that warnings ye dispense, Emboldened by a keener sense; â•… That men have lived for whom, With dread precision, ye made clear The hour that in a distant year â•… Should knell them to the tomb.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 667 Unwelcome Insight! Yet there are Blest times when mystery is laid bare, â•… Truth shows a glorious face, While on that Isthmus which commands The councils of both worlds she stands, â•… Sage Spirits! by your grace. God, who instructs the Brutes to scent All changes of the element, â•… Whose wisdom fixed the scale Of Natures, for our wants provides By higher, sometimes humbler, guides, â•… When lights of Reason fail.

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Gold and Silver Fishes, in a vase

The soaring Lark is blest as proud â•… When at Heaven’s gate she sings; The roving Bee proclaims aloud â•… Her flight by vocal wings; While Ye, in lasting durance pent, â•… Your silent lives employ For something “more than dull content â•… Though haply less than joy.” Yet might your glassy prison seem â•… A place where joy is known, Where golden flash and silver gleam â•… Have meanings of their own; While, high and low, and all about, â•… Your motions, glittering Elves! Ye weave—no danger from without, â•… And peace among yourselves. Type of a sunny human breast â•… Is your transparent Cell; Where Fear is but a transient Guest, â•… No sullen Humours dwell; Where, sensitive of every ray â•… That smites this tiny sea,

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668â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Your scaly panoplies repay â•… The loan with usury. How beautiful! Yet none knows why â•… This ever-graceful change, Renewed—renewed incessantly— â•… Within your quiet range. Is it that ye with conscious skill â•… For mutual pleasure glide; And sometimes, not without your will, â•… Are dwarfed, or magnified? Fays—Genii of gigantic size— â•… And now, in twilight dim, Clustering like constellated Eyes â•… In wings of Cherubim, When they abate their fiery glare: â•… Whate’er your forms express, Whate’er ye seem, whate’er ye are, â•… All leads to gentleness. Cold though your nature be, ’tis pure; â•… Your birthright is a fence From all that haughtier kinds endure â•… Through tyranny of sense. Ah! not alone by colours bright â•… Are Ye to Heaven allied, When, like essential Forms of light, â•… Ye mingle, or divide. For day-dreams soft as e’er beguiled â•… Day-thoughts while limbs repose; For moonlight fascinations mild â•… Your gift, ere shutters close; Accept, mute Captives! thanks and praise; â•… And may this tribute prove That gentle admirations raise â•… Delight resembling love.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 669 Liberty (sequel to the above) [Addressed to a Friend; the Gold and Silver Fishes having been removed to a pool in the pleasure-ground of Rydal Mount.] “The liberty of a people consists in being governed by laws which they have made for themselves, under whatever form it be of government. The liberty of a private man, in being master of his own time and actions, as far as may consist with the laws of God and of his country. Of this latter we are here to discourse.” Cowley.

Those breathing Tokens of your kind regard, (Suspect not, Anna, that their fate is hard; Not soon does aught to which mild fancies cling, In lonely spots, become a slighted thing;) Those silent Inmates now no longer share, Nor do they need, our hospitable care, Removed in kindness from their glassy Cell To the fresh waters of a living Well; That spreads into an elfin pool opaque Of which close boughs a glimmering mirror make, On whose smooth breast with dimples light and small The fly may settle, leaf or blossom fall. —There swims, of blazing sun and beating shower Fearless (but how obscured!) the golden Power, That from his bauble prison used to cast Gleams by the richest jewel unsurpast; And near him, darkling like a sullen Gnome, The silver Tenant of the crystal dome; Dissevered both from all the mysteries Of hue and altering shape that charmed all eyes. They pined, perhaps, they languished while they shone; And, if not so, what matters beauty gone And admiration lost, by change of place That brings to the inward Creature no disgrace? But if the change restore his birthright, then, Whate’er the difference, boundless is the gain. Who can divine what impulses from God Reach the caged Lark, within a town-abode, From his poor inch or two of daisied sod? O yield him back his privilege! No sea

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670â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Swells like the bosom of a man set free; A wilderness is rich with liberty. Roll on, ye spouting Whales, who die or keep Your independence in the fathomless Deep! Spread, tiny Nautilus, the living sail; Dive, at thy choice, or brave the freshening gale! If unreproved the ambitious Eagle mount Sunward to seek the daylight in its fount, Bays, gulfs, and Ocean’s Indian width, shall be, Till the world perishes, a field for thee! â•… While musing here I sit in shadow cool, And watch these mute Companions, in the pool, Among reflected boughs of leafy trees, By glimpses caught—disporting at their ease— Enlivened, braced, by hardy luxuries, I ask what warrant fixed them (like a spell Of witchcraft fixed them) in the crystal Cell; To wheel with languid motion round and round, Beautiful, yet in a mournful durance bound. Their peace, perhaps, our lightest footfall marred; On their quick sense our sweetest music jarred; And whither could they dart, if seized with fear? No sheltering stone, no tangled root was near. When fire or taper ceased to cheer the room, They wore away the night in starless gloom; And, when the sun first dawned upon the streams, How faint their portion of his vital beams! Thus, and unable to complain, they fared, While not one joy of ours by them was shared. â•… Is there a cherished Bird (I venture now To snatch a sprig from Chaucer’s reverend brow)— Is there a brilliant Fondling of the cage, Though sure of plaudits on his costly stage, Though fed with dainties from the snow-white hand Of a kind Mistress, fairest of the land, But gladly would escape; and, if need were, Scatter the colours from the plumes that bear The emancipated captive through blithe air

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 671 Into strange woods, where he at large may live On best or worst which they and Nature give? The Beetle loves his unpretending track, The Snail the house he carries on his back: The far-fetched Worm with pleasure would disown The bed we give him, though of softest down; A noble instinct; in all Kinds the same, All Ranks! What Sovereign, worthy of the name, If doomed to breathe against his lawful will An element that flatters him—to kill, But would rejoice to barter outward show For the least boon that freedom can bestow? â•… But most the Bard is true to inborn right, Lark of the dawn, and Philomel of night, Exults in freedom, can with rapture vouch For the dear blessings of a lowly couch, A natural meal—days, months, from Nature’s hand; Time, place, and business, all at his command! Who bends to happier duties, who more wise Than the industrious Poet, taught to prize, Above all grandeur, a pure life uncrossed By cares in which simplicity is lost? That life—the flowery path which winds by stealth, Which Horace needed for his spirit’s health; Sighed for, in heart and genius, overcome By noise, and strife, and questions wearisome, And the vain splendours of Imperial Rome? Let easy mirth his social hours inspire, And fiction animate his sportive lyre, Attuned to verse that crowning light Distress With garlands cheats her into happiness; Give me the humblest note of those sad strains Drawn forth by pressure of his gilded chains, As a chance sunbeam from his memory fell Upon the Sabine Farm he loved so well; Or when the prattle of Bandusia’s spring Haunted his ear—he only listening— He proud to please, above all rivals, fit To win the palm of gaiety and wit;

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672â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth He, doubt not, with involuntary dread, Shrinking from each new favour to be shed, By the World’s Ruler, on his honoured head! â•… In a deep vision’s intellectual scene, Such earnest longings and regrets as keen Depressed the melancholy Cowley, laid Under a fancied yew-tree’s luckless shade; A doleful bower for penitential song, Where Man and Muse complained of mutual wrong; While Cam’s ideal current glided by, And antique Towers nodded their foreheads high, Citadels dear to studious privacy. But Fortune, who had long been used to sport With this tried Servant of a thankless Court, Relenting met his wishes; and to You The remnant of his days at least was true; You, whom, though long deserted, he loved best; You, Muses, Books, Fields, Liberty, and Rest! But happier they who, fixing hope and aim On the humanities of peaceful fame, Enter betimes with more than martial fire The generous course, aspire, and still aspire; Upheld by warnings heeded not too late Stifle the contradictions of their fate, And to one purpose cleave, their Being’s godlike mate! â•… Thus, gifted Friend, but with the placid brow That Woman ne’er should forfeit, keep thy vow; With modest scorn reject whate’er would blind The ethereal eyesight, cramp the wingèd mind! Then, with a blessing granted from above To every act, word, thought, and look of love, Life’s book for Thee may lie unclosed, till age Shall with a thankful tear bedrop its latest page.

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  “There is now, alas! no possibility of the anticipation, with which the above Epistle concludes, being realised: nor were the verses ever seen by the Individual for whom they were intended. She accompanied her husband, the Rev. Wm. Fletcher, to India, and died of cholera, at the age of thirty-two or thirty-three years, on her way from Shalapore to Bombay, deeply lamented by all who knew her. Her enthusiasm was ardent, her piety steadfast; and her great talents would have enabled her to be eminently useful in the difficult path of life to which she had been called. The

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 673 Humanity (Written in the Year 1829) Not from his fellows only man may learn Rights to compare and duties to discern: All creatures and all objects, in degree, Are friends and patrons of humanity.—MS. [The Rocking-stones, alluded to in the beginning of the following verses, are supposed to have been used, by our British ancestors, both for judicial and religious purposes. Such stones are not uncommonly found, at this day, both in Great Britain and in Ireland.]

What though the Accused, upon his own appeal To righteous Gods when Man has ceased to feel, Or at a doubting Judge’s stern command, Before the Stone of Power no longer stand— To take his sentence from the balanced Block, As, at his touch, it rocks, or seems to rock; Though, in the depths of sunless groves, no more The Druid-priest the hallowed Oak adore; Yet, for the Initiate, rocks and whispering trees Do still perform mysterious offices! And still in beast and bird a function dwells, That, while we look and listen, sometimes tells Upon the heart, in more authentic guise Than Oracles, or wingèd Auguries, Spake to the Science of the ancient wise. Not uninspired appear their simplest ways; Their voices mount symbolical of praise— To mix with hymns that Spirits make and hear; And to fallen Man their innocence is dear. Enraptured Art draws from those sacred springs Streams that reflect the poetry of things! Where Christian Martyrs stand in hues portrayed, That, might a wish avail, would never fade, Borne in their hands the Lily and the Palm Shed round the Altar a celestial calm; There, too, behold the Lamb and guileless Dove

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opinion she entertained of her own performances, given to the world under her maiden name, Jewsbury, was modest and humble, and, indeed, far below their merits; as is often the case with those who are making trial of their powers with a hope to discover what they are best fitted for. In one quality, viz., quickness in the motions of her mind, she was in the author’s estimation unequalled.” WW

674â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Prest in the tenderness of virgin love To saintly bosoms!—Glorious is the blending Of right Affections, climbing or descending Along a scale of light and life, with cares Alternate; carrying holy thoughts and prayers Up to the sovereign seat of the Most High; Descending to the worm in charity; Like those good Angels whom a dream of night Gave, in the Field of Luz, to Jacob’s sight; All, while he slept, treading the pendent stairs Earthward or heavenward, radiant Messengers, That, with a perfect will in one accord Of strict obedience, served the Almighty Lord; And with untired humility forbore The ready service of the wings they wore. â•… What a fair World were ours for Verse to paint, If Power could live at ease with self-restraint! Opinion bow before the naked sense Of the greatest Vision,—faith in Providence; Merciful over all existence, just To the least particle of sentient dust; And, fixing by immutable decrees, Seedtime and harvest for his purposes! Then would be closed the restless oblique eye That looks for evil like a treacherous spy; Disputes would then relax, like stormy winds That into breezes sink; impetuous Minds By discipline endeavour to grow meek As Truth herself, whom they profess to seek. Then Genius, shunning fellowship with Pride, Would braid his golden locks at Wisdom’s side; Love ebb and flow untroubled by caprice; And not alone harsh tyranny would cease, But unoffending creatures find release From qualified oppression, whose defence Rests on a hollow plea of recompence;

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  “The author is indebted, here, to a passage in one of Mr. Digby’s valuable works.” WW refers to Kenelm Henry Digby, author of The Broad Stone of Honour: The True Sense and Practice of Chilvary (London, 1826, 1828,1829).

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 675 Thought-tempered wrongs, for each humane respect Oft worse to bear, or deadlier in effect. Witness those glances of indignant scorn From some high-minded Slave, impelled to spurn The kindness that would make him less forlorn; Or, if the soul to bondage be subdued, His look of pitable gratitude! â•… Alas for thee, bright Galaxy of Isles, Where day departs in pomp, returns with smiles— To greet the flowers and fruitage of a land, As the sun mounts, by sea-born breezes fanned; A land whose azure mountain-tops are seats For Gods in council, whose green vales, Retreats Fit for the Shades of Heroes, mingling there To breathe Elysian peace in upper air. â•… Though cold as winter, gloomy as the grave, Stone-walls a Prisoner make, but not a Slave. Shall Man assume a property in Man? Lay on the moral Will a withering ban? Shame that our laws at distance should protect Enormities, which they at home reject! “Slaves cannot breathe in England”—a proud boast! And yet a mockery! if, from coast to coast, Though fettered slave be none, her floors and soil Groan underneath a weight of slavish toil, For the poor Many, measured out by rules Fetched with cupidity from heartless schools, That to an Idol, falsely called “the Wealth Of Nations,” sacrifice a People’s health, Body and mind and soul; a thirst so keen Is ever urging on the vast machine Of sleepless Labour, ’mid whose dizzy wheels The Power least prized is that which thinks and feels. â•… Then, for the pastimes of this delicate age, And all the heavy or light vassalage Which for their sakes we fasten, as may suit Our varying moods, on human kind or brute, ’Twere well in little, as in great, to pause,

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676â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Lest Fancy trifle with eternal laws. There are to whom even garden, grove, and field, Perpetual lessons of forbearance yield; Who would not lightly violate the grace The lowliest flower possesses in its place; Nor shorten the sweet life, too fugitive, Which nothing less than Infinite Power could give.

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“Why art thou silent! Is thy love a plant” Why art thou silent! Is thy love a plant Of such weak fibre that the treacherous air Of absence withers what was once so fair? Is there no debt to pay, no boon to grant? Yet have my thoughts for thee been vigilant (As would my deeds have been) with hourly care, The mind’s least generous wish a mendicant For nought but what thy happiness could spare. Speak, though this soft warm heart, once free to hold A thousand tender pleasures, thine and mine, Be left more desolate, more dreary cold Than a forsaken bird’s-nest filled with snow ’Mid its own bush of leafless eglantine; Speak, that my torturing doubts their end may know!

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Inscription intended for a stone in the grounds of rydal mount

In these fair Vales hath many a Tree â•… At Wordsworth’s suit been spared; And from the Builder’s hand this Stone, For some rude beauty of its own, â•… Was rescued by the Bard: So let it rest,—and time will come â•… When here the tender-hearted May heave a gentle sigh for him, â•… As one of the departed.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 677 Elegiac Musings in the grounds of coleorton hall, the seat of the late sir george beaumont, bart.

[In these grounds stands the Parish Church, wherein is a mural monument, the Inscription upon which, in deference to the earnest request of the deceased, is confined to name, dates, and these words:—“Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord!”]

With copious eulogy in prose or rhyme Graven on the tomb we struggle against Time, Alas, how feebly! but our feelings rise And still we struggle when a good man dies: Such offering Beaumont dreaded and forbade, A spirit meek in self-abasement clad. Yet here at least, though few have numbered days That shunned so modestly the light of praise, His graceful manners, and the temperate ray Of that arch fancy which would round him play, Brightening a converse never known to swerve From courtesy and delicate reserve; That sense—the bland philosophy of life Which checked discussion ere it warmed to strife; Those fine accomplishments, and varied powers, Might have their record among sylvan bowers. —Oh, fled for ever! vanished like a blast That shook the leaves in myriads as it passed; Gone from this world of earth, air, sea, and sky, From all its spirit-moving imagery, Intensely studied with a Painter’s eye, A Poet’s heart; and, for congenial view, Portrayed with happiest pencil, not untrue To common recognitions while the line Flowed in a course of sympathy divine— Oh! severed too abruptly from delights That all the seasons shared with equal rights— Rapt in the grace of undismantled age, From soul-felt music, and the treasured page, Lit by that evening lamp which loved to shed Its mellow lustre round thy honoured head, While Friends beheld thee give with eye, voice, mien,

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678â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth More than theatric force to Shakspeare’s scene— Rebuke us not!—The mandate is obeyed That said, “Let praise be mute where I am laid;” The holier deprecation, given in trust To the cold Marble, waits upon thy dust; Yet have we found how slowly genuine grief From silent admiration wins relief. Too long abashed thy Name is like a Rose That doth “within itself its sweetness close;” A drooping Daisy changed into a cup In which her bright-eyed beauty is shut up. Within these Groves, where still are flitting by Shades of the Past, oft noticed with a sigh, Shall stand a votive Tablet, haply free, When towers and temples fall, to speak of Thee! If sculptured emblems of our mortal doom Recall not there the wisdom of the Tomb, Green ivy, risen from out the cheerful earth, Shall fringe the lettered stone; and herbs spring forth, Whose fragrance, by soft dews and rain unbound, Shall penetrate the heart without a wound; While truth and love their purposes fulfil, Commemorating genius, talent, skill, That could not lie concealed where Thou wert known; Thy virtues He must judge, and He alone, The God upon whose mercy they are thrown.

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“Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride” Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride Of thy domain, strange contrast do present To house and home in many a craggy rent Of the wild Peak; where new–born waters glide Through fields whose thrifty Occupants abide As in a dear and chosen banishment, With every semblance of entire content; So kind is simple Nature, fairly tried! Yet He whose heart in childhood gave her troth To pastoral dales, thin set with modest farms, May learn, if judgement strengthen with his growth,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 679 That, not for Fancy only, pomp hath charms; And, strenuous to protect from lawless harms The extremes of favoured life, may honour both. To B. R. Haydon, Esq. On Seeing his Picture of Napoleon Buonaparte on the Island of St. Helena Haydon! let worthier judges praise the skill Here by thy pencil shown in truth of lines And charm of colours; I applaud those signs Of thought, that give the true poetic thrill; That unencumbered whole of blank and still, Sky without cloud—ocean without a wave; And the one Man that laboured to enslave The World, sole-standing high on the bare hill— Back turned, arms folded, the unapparent face Tinged, we may fancy, in this dreary place With light reflected from the invisible sun Set like his fortunes; but not set for aye Like them. The unguilty Power pursues his way, And before him doth dawn perpetual run.

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Epitaph By a blest Husband guided, Mary came From nearest kindred, * * * * * * her new name; She came, though meek of soul, in seemly pride Of happiness and hope, a youthful Bride. O dread reverse! if aught be so, which proves That God will chasten whom he dearly loves. Faith bore her up through pains in mercy given, And troubles that were each a step to Heaven: Two Babes were laid in earth before she died; A third now slumbers at the Mother’s side; Its Sister-twin survives, whose smiles afford A trembling solace to her widowed Lord.

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â•… Reader! if to thy bosom cling the pain   WW replaced the asterisks with the last name of Mary Elizabeth (Carleton) Vernon, a woman raised in Grasmere, in the third edition of Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems (London, 1839). The epitaph was inscribed on a tablet in St. Mary’s Church in Sprawley, near Hanbury, England.

680â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Of recent sorrow combated in vain; Or if thy cherished grief have failed to thwart Time still intent on his insidious part, Lulling the Mourner’s best good thoughts asleep, Pilfering regrets we would, but cannot, keep; Bear with Him—judge Him gently who makes known His bitter loss by this memorial Stone; And pray that in his faithful breast the grace Of resignation find a hallowed place.

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Devotional Incitements â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… “Not to the earth confined, “Ascend to heaven.”

Where will they stop, those breathing Powers, The Spirits of the new-born flowers? They wander with the breeze, they wind Where’er the streams a passage find; Up from their native ground they rise In mute aërial harmonies; From humble violet modest thyme Exhaled, the essential odours climb, As if no space below the sky Their subtle flight could satisfy: Heaven will not tax our thoughts with pride If like ambition be their guide. â•… Roused by this kindliest of May-showers, The spirit-quickener of the flowers, That with moist virtue softly cleaves The buds, and freshens the young leaves, The Birds pour forth their souls in notes Of rapture from a thousand throats, Here checked by too impetuous haste, While there the music runs to waste, With bounty more and more enlarged, Till the whole air is overcharged; Give ear, O Man! to their appeal And thirst for no inferior zeal, Thou, who canst think, as well as feel.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 681 â•… Mount from the earth; aspire! aspire! So pleads the town’s cathedral choir, In strains that from their solemn height Sink, to attain a loftier flight; While incense from the altar breathes Rich fragrance in embodied wreaths; Or, flung from swinging censer, shrouds The taper lights, and curls in clouds Around angelic Forms, the still Creation of the painter’s skill, That on the service wait concealed One moment, and the next revealed. —Cast off your bonds, awake, arise, And for no transient ecstasies! What else can mean the visual plea Of still or moving imagery? The iterated summons loud, Not wasted on the attendant crowd, Nor wholly lost upon the throng Hurrying the busy streets along? â•… Alas! the sanctities combined By art to unsensualise the mind, Decay and languish; or, as creeds And humours change, are spurned like weeds: The solemn rites, the awful forms, Founder amid fanatic storms; The priests are from their altars thrust, The temples levelled with the dust: Yet evermore, through years renewed In undisturbed vicissitude Of seasons balancing their flight On the swift wings of day and night, Kind Nature keeps a heavenly door Wide open for the scattered Poor. Where flower-breathed incense to the skies Is wafted in mute harmonies; And ground fresh cloven by the plough Is fragrant with a humbler vow; Where birds and brooks from leafy dells

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682â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Chime forth unwearied canticles, And vapours magnify and spread The glory of the sun’s bright head; Still constant in her worship, still Conforming to the almighty Will, Whether men sow or reap the fields, Her admonitions Nature yields; That not by bread alone we live, Or what a hand of flesh can give; That every day should leave some part Free for a sabbath of the heart; So shall the seventh be truly blest, From morn to eve, with hallowed rest.

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To the Author’s Portrait [Painted at Rydal Mount, by W. Pickersgill, Esq., for St. John’s College, Cambridge.]

Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt Margaret, the saintly Foundress, take thy place; And, if Time spare the colours for the grace Which to the work surpassing skill hath dealt, Thou, on thy rock reclined, though Kingdoms melt And States be torn up by the roots, wilt seem To breathe in rural peace, to hear the stream, To think and feel as once the Poet felt. Whate’er thy fate, those features have not grown Unrecognised through many a household tear, More prompt more glad to fall than drops of dew By morning shed around a flower half blown; Tears of delight, that testified how true To life thou art, and, in thy truth, how dear!

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[Four Poems Written in Response to the Reform Movement, December 1832] i. “For Lubbock vote—no legislative Hack” For Lubbock vote—no legislative Hack The dupe of History—that old Almanack! The Sage has read the Stars with skill so true

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 683 That Men may trust him, and be certain, too, The almanack He’ll follow must be new.

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ii. “If this great world of joy and pain” If this great world of joy and pain â•… Revolve in one sure track; If Freedom, set, will rise again, â•… And Virtue, flown, come back; Woe to the purblind crew who fill â•… The heart with each day’s care; Nor gain, from past or future, skill â•… To bear, and to forbear!

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iii. “Now that Astrology is out of date” Now that Astrology is out of date, What have the Stars to do with Church and State? In Parliament should Lubbock go astray, Twould be an odd excuse for Friends to say, “He’s wondrous knowing in The Milky Way!”

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iv. Question and Answer “Can Lubbock fail to make a good M.P, A Whig so clever in Astronomy?” “Baillie, a Brother-sage, went forth as keen Of change—for what reward?—the Guillotine: Not Newton’s Genius could have saved his head From falling by the “Mouvement” he had led.”

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Thought on the Seasons Flattered with promise of escape â•… From every hurtful blast, Spring takes, O sprightly May! thy shape, â•… Her loveliest and her last. Less fair is summer riding high â•… In fierce solstitial power, Less fair than when a lenient sky â•… Brings on her parting hour.

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684â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth When earth repays with golden sheaves â•… The labours of the plough, And ripening fruits and forest leaves â•… All brighten on the bough, What pensive beauty autumn shows, â•… Before she hears the sound Of winter rushing in, to close â•… The emblematic round! Such be our Spring, our Summer such; â•… So may our Autumn blend With hoary Winter, and Life touch, â•… Through heaven-born hope, her end!

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A Wren’s Nest Among the dwellings framed by birds â•… In field or forest with nice care, Is none that with the little Wren’s â•… In snugness may compare. No door the tenement requires, â•… And seldom needs a laboured roof; Yet is it to the fiercest sun â•… Impervious and storm-proof. So warm, so beautiful withal, â•… In perfect fitness for its aim, That to the Kind by special grace â•… Their instinct surely came. And when for their abodes they seek â•… An opportune recess, The Hermit has no finer eye â•… For shadowy quietness. These find, ’mid ivied Abbey walls, â•… A canopy in some still nook; Others are pent-housed by a brae â•… That overhangs a brook. There to the brooding Bird her Mate

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 685 â•… Warbles by fits his low clear song; And by the busy Streamlet both â•… Are sung to all day long. Or in sequestered lanes they build, â•… Where, till the flitting Bird’s return, Her eggs within the nest repose, â•… Like relics in an urn. But still, where general choice is good, â•… There is a better and a best; And, among fairest objects, some â•… Are fairer than the rest; This, one of those small Builders proved â•… In a green covert, where, from out The forehead of a pollard oak, â•… The leafy antlers sprout; For She who planned the mossy Lodge, â•… Mistrusting her evasive skill, Had to a Primrose looked for aid â•… Her wishes to fulfil.

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High on the trunk’s projecting brow, â•… And fixed an infant’s span above The budding flowers, peeped forth the nest â•… The prettiest of the grove! The treasure proudly did I show â•… To some whose minds without disdain Can turn to little things, but once â•… Looked up for it in vain: ’Tis gone—a ruthless Spoiler’s prey, â•… Who heeds not beauty, love, or song, ’Tis gone! (so seemed it) and we grieved â•… Indignant at the wrong. Just three days after, passing by â•… In clearer light the moss-built cell I saw, espied its shaded mouth,

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686â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•… And felt that all was well. The Primrose for a veil had spread â•… The largest of her upright leaves; And thus, for purposes benign, â•… A simple Flower deceives.

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Concealed from friends who might disturb â•… Thy quiet with no ill intent, Secure from evil eyes and hands â•… On barbarous plunder bent, Rest, mother-bird! and when thy young â•… Take flight, and thou art free to roam, When withered is the guardian flower, â•… And empty thy late home, Think how ye prospered, thou and thine, â•… Amid the unviolated grove Housed near the growing primrose tuft â•… In foresight, or in love.

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Evening Voluntaries I Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose Day’s grateful warmth, tho’ moist with falling dews. Look for the stars, you’ll say that there are none; Look up a second time, and, one by one, You mark them twinkling out with silvery light, And wonder how they could elude the sight. The birds, of late so noisy in their bowers, Warbled a while with faint and fainter powers, But now are silent as the dim-seen flowers: Nor does the Village Church-clock’s iron tone The time’s and season’s influence disown; Nine beats distinctly to each other bound In drowsy sequence; how unlike the sound That, in rough winter, oft inflicts a fear On fireside Listeners, doubting what they hear!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 687 The Shepherd, bent on rising with the sun, Had closed his door before the day was done, And now with thankful heart to bed doth creep, And join his little Children in their sleep. The Bat, lured forth where trees the lane o’ershade, Flits and reflits along the close arcade; Far-heard the Dor-hawk chases the white Moth With burring note, which Industry and Sloth Might both be pleased with, for it suits them both. Wheels and the tread of hoofs are heard no more; One Boat there was, but it will touch the shore With the next dipping of its slackened oar; Faint sound, that, for the gayest of the gay, Might give to serious thought a moment’s sway, As a last token of Man’s toilsome day!

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II Not in the lucid intervals of life That come but as a curse to Party-strife; Not in some hour when Pleasure with a sigh Of langour puts his rosy garland by; Not in the breathing-times of that poor Slave Who daily piles up wealth in Mammon’s cave, Is Nature felt, or can be; nor do words, Which practised Talent readily affords, Prove that her hand has touched responsive chords; Nor has her gentle beauty power to move With genuine rapture and with fervent love The soul of Genius, if he dares to take Life’s rule from passion craved for passion’s sake; Untaught that meekness is the cherished bent Of all the truly Great and all the Innocent. But who is innocent? By grace divine, Not otherwise, O Nature! we are thine, Through good and evil thine, in just degree Of rational and manly sympathy. To all that Earth from pensive hearts is stealing, And Heaven is now to gladdened eyes revealing, Add every charm the Universe can show

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688â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Through every change its aspects undergo, Care may be respited, but not repealed; No perfect cure grows on the bounded field. Vain is the pleasure, a false calm the peace, If He, through whom alone our conflicts cease, Our virtuous hopes without relapse advance, Come not to speed the Soul’s deliverance; To the distempered Intellect refuse His gracious help, or give what we abuse.

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III (by the side of rydal mere) The Linnet’s warble, sinking towards a close, Hints to the Thrush ’tis time for their repose; The shrill-voiced Thrush is heedless, and again The Monitor revives his own sweet strain; But both will soon be mastered, and the copse Be left as silent as the mountain-tops, Ere some commanding Star dismiss to rest The throng of Rooks, that now, from twig or nest, (After a steady flight on home-bound wings, And a last game of mazy hoverings Around their ancient grove) with cawing noise Disturb the liquid music’s equipoise. O Nightingale! Who ever heard thy song Might here be moved, till Fancy grows so strong That listening sense is pardonably cheated Where wood or stream by thee was never greeted. Surely, from fairest spots of favoured lands, Were not some gifts withheld by jealous hands, This hour of deepening darkness here would be, As a fresh morning for new harmony; And Lays as prompt would hail the dawn of night; A dawn she has both beautiful and bright, When the East kindles with the full moon’s light. â•… Wanderer by spring with gradual progress led, For sway profoundly felt as widely spread; To king, to peasant, to rough sailor, dear,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 689 And to the soldier’s trumpet-wearied ear; How welcome wouldst thou be to this green Vale Fairer than Tempe! Yet, sweet Nightingale! From the warm breeze that bears thee on alight At will, and stay thy migratory flight; Build, at thy choice, or sing, by pool or fount, Who shall complain, or call thee to account? The wisest, happiest, of our kind are they That ever walk content with Nature’s way, God’s goodness measuring bounty as it may; For whom the gravest thought of what they miss, Chastening the fulness of a present bliss, Is with that wholesome office satisfied, While unrepining sadness is allied In thankful bosoms to a modest pride.

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IV Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge—the Mere Seems firm as solid crystal, breathless, clear, And motionless; and, to the gazer’s eye, Deeper than Ocean, in the immensity 5 Of its vague mountains and unreal sky! But, from the process in that still retreat, Turn to minuter changes at our feet; Observe how dewy Twilight has withdrawn The crowd of daisies from the shaven lawn, And has restored to view its tender green, 10 That, while the sun rode high, was lost beneath their dazzling sheen. —An emblem this of what the sober Hour Can do for minds disposed to feel its power! Thus oft, when we in vain have wish’d away The petty pleasures of the garish day, 15 Meek Eve shuts up the whole usurping host (Unbashful dwarfs each glittering at his post) And leaves the disencumbered spirit free To reassume a staid simplicity. 20 ’Tis well—but what are helps of time and place, When wisdom stands in need of nature’s grace; Why do good thoughts, invoked or not, descend,

690â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Like Angels from their bowers, our virtues to befriend; If yet To-morrow, unbelied, may say, “I come to open out, for fresh display, The elastic vanities of yesterday?”

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V The leaves that rustled on this oak-crowned hill, And sky that danced among those leaves, are still; Rest smooths the way for sleep; in field and bower Soft shades and dews have shed their blended power On drooping eyelid and the closing flower; Sound is there none at which the faintest heart Might leap, the weakest nerve of superstition start; Save when the Owlet’s unexpected scream Pierces the ethereal vault; and ’mid the gleam Of unsubstantial imagery—the dream, From the hushed vale’s realities, transferred To the still lake, the imaginative Bird Seems, ’mid inverted mountains, not unheard. â•… Grave Creature! whether, while the moon shines bright On thy wings opened wide for smoothest flight, Thou art discovered in a roofless tower, Rising from what may once have been a Lady’s bower: Or spied where thou sit’st moping in thy mew At the dim centre of a churchyard yew; Or, from a rifted crag or ivy tod Deep in a forest, thy secure abode, Thou giv’st, for pastime’s sake, by shriek or shout, A puzzling notice of thy whereabout; May the night never come, the day be seen, When I shall scorn thy voice or mock thy mien! In classic ages men perceived a soul Of sapience in thy aspect, headless Owl! Thee Athens reverenced in the studious grove; And, near the golden sceptre grasped by Jove, His Eagle’s favourite perch, while round him sate The Gods revolving the decrees of Fate, Thou, too, wert present at Minerva’s side— Hark to that second larum! far and wide

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 691 The elements have heard, and rock and cave replied. VI The Sun, that seemed so mildly to retire, Flung back from distant climes a streaming fire, Whose blaze is now subdued to tender gleams, Prelude of night’s approach with soothing dreams. Look round;—of all the clouds not one is moving; ’Tis the still hour of thinking, feeling, loving. Silent, and stedfast as the vaulted sky, The boundless plain of waters seems to lie:— Comes that low sound from breezes rustling o’er The grass-crowned headland that conceals the shore! No ’tis the earth-voice of the mighty sea, Whispering how meek and gentle he can be! â•… Thou Power supreme! who, arming to rebuke Offenders, dost put off the gracious look, And clothe thyself with terrors like the flood Of ocean roused into his fiercest mood, Whatever discipline thy Will ordain For the brief course that must for me remain; Teach me with quick-eared spirit to rejoice In admonitions of thy softest voice! Whate’er the path these mortal feet may trace, Breathe through my soul the blessing of thy grace, Glad, through a perfect love, a faith sincere Drawn from the wisdom that begins with fear; Glad to expand, and, for a season, free From finite cares, to rest absorbed in Thee!

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VII (by the sea-side) The sun is couched, the sea-fowl gone to rest, And the wild storm hath somewhere found a nest; Air slumbers—wave with wave no longer strives, Only a heaving of the deep survives, A tell-tale motion! soon will it be laid, And by the tide alone the water swayed.

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692â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Stealthy withdrawings, interminglings mild Of light with shade in beauty reconciled— Such is the prospect far as sight can range, The soothing recompence, the welcome change. Where now the ships that drove before the blast, Threatened by angry breakers as they passed; And by a train of flying clouds bemocked; Or, in the hollow surge, at anchor rocked As on a bed of death? Some lodge in peace, Saved by His care who bade the tempest cease; And some, too heedless of past danger, court Fresh gales to waft them to the far-off port; But near, or hanging sea and sky between, Not one of all those wingèd Powers is seen, Seen in her course, nor ’mid this quiet heard; Yet oh! how gladly would the air be stirred By some acknowledgment of thanks and praise, Soft in its temper as those vesper lays Sung to the Virgin while accordant oars Urge the slow bark along Calabrian shores; A sea-born service through the mountains felt Till into one loved vision all things melt: Or like those hymns that soothe with graver sound The gulfy coast of Norway iron-bound; And, from the wide and open Baltic, rise With punctual care, Lutherian harmonies. Hush, not a voice is here! but why repine, Now when the star of eve comes forth to shine On British waters with that look benign? Ye mariners, that plough your onward way, Or in the haven rest, or sheltering bay, May silent thanks at least to God be given With a full heart, “our thoughts are heard in heaven!”

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VIII The sun has long been set, â•… The stars are out by twos and threes,   For WW’s explanatory note for VIII and IX, see the notes at the end of this volume. WW first published a version of “The sun has long been set” in Poems, in Two Volumes in 1807 (see vol. 1 of this edition).

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 693 The little birds are piping â•… Among the bushes and trees; There’s a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes, And a far-off wind that rushes, And a sound of water that gushes, And the Cuckoo’s sovereign cry Fills all the hollow of the sky. Who would “go parading” In London, “and masquerading,” On such a night of June With that beautiful soft half-moon, And all these innocent blisses, On such a night as this is?

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IX Throned in the Sun’s descending car What Power unseen diffuses far This tendernes of mind? What Genius smiles on yonder flood? What God in whispers from the wood Bids every thought be kind? O ever pleasing Solitude, Companion of the wise and good, Thy shades, thy silence, now be mine, â•… Thy charms my only theme; My haunt the hollow cliff whose Pine â•… Waves o’er the gloomy stream; Whence the scared Owl on pinions grey â•… Breaks from the rustling boughs, And down the lone vale sails away â•… To more profound repose! Composed by the Sea-shore What mischief cleaves to unsubdued regret, How fancy sickens by vague hopes beset; How baffled projects on the spirit prey,   For WW’s comment on this poem see the notes at the end of this volume.

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694â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And fruitless wishes eat the heart away, The sailor knows; he best whose lot is cast On the relentless sea that holds him fast On chance dependent, and the fickle star Of power, through long and melancholy war. O sad it is, in sight of foreign shores, Daily to think on old familiar doors, Hearths loved in childhood and ancestral floors; Or, tossed about along a waste of foam, To ruminate on that delightful home Which with the dear Betrothèd was to come; Or came and was, and is, yet meets the eye Never but in the world of memory; Or in a dream recalled, whose smoothest range Is crossed by knowledge, or by dread, of change, And if not so, whose perfect joy makes sleep A thing too bright for breathing man to keep. Hail to the virtues which that perilous life Extracts from Nature’s elemental strife; And welcome glory won in battles fought As bravely as the foe was keenly sought. But to each gallant Captain and his crew A less imperious sympathy is due, Such as my verse now yields, while moonbeams play On the mute sea in this unruffled bay; Such as will promptly flow from every breast, Where good men, disappointed in the quest Of wealth and power and honours, long for rest; Or having known the splendours of success, Sigh for the obscurities of happiness.

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To ———, upon the birth of her first-born child, march,

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“Tum porro puer, ut sævis projectus ab undis Navita; nudus humi jacet,” &c.—Lucretius.

Like a shipwreck’d Sailor tost By rough waves on a perilous coast,   Addressed to Isabella, wife of WW’s son John, on the occasion of the birth of Jane, WW’s first grandchild.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 695 Lies the Babe, in helplessness And in tenderest nakedness, Flung by labouring nature forth Upon the mercies of the earth. Can its eyes beseech? no more Than the hands are free to implore: Voice but serves for one brief cry, Plaint was it? or prophecy Of sorrow that will surely come? Omen of man’s grievous doom! â•… But, O Mother! by the close Duly granted to thy throes; By the silent thanks now tending Incense-like to Heaven, descending Now to mingle and to move With the gush of earthly love, As a debt to that frail Creature, Instrument of struggling Nature For the blissful calm, the peace Known but to this one release; Can the pitying spirit doubt That for human-kind springs out From the penalty a sense Of more than mortal recompence? â•… As a floating summer cloud, Though of gorgeous drapery proud, To the sun-burnt traveller, Or the stooping labourer, Ofttimes makes its bounty known By its shadow round him thrown; So, by chequerings of sad cheer, Heavenly guardians, brooding near, Of their presence tell—too bright Haply for corporeal sight! Ministers of grace divine Feelingly their brows incline O’er this seeming Castaway Breathing, in light of day,

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696â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Something like the faintest breath That has power to baffle death— Beautiful, while very weakness Captivates like passive meekness! â•… And, sweet Mother! under warrant Of the universal Parent, Who repays in season due Them who have, like thee, been true To the filial chain let down From his everlasting throne, Angels hovering round thy couch, With their softest whispers vouch, That, whatever griefs may fret, Cares entangle, sins beset This thy first-born, and with tears Stain her cheek in future years, Heavenly succour, not denied To the Babe, whate’er betide, Will to the Woman be supplied!

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â•… Mother! blest be thy calm ease; Blest the starry promises, And the firmament benign Hallowed be it, where they shine! Yes, for them whose souls have scope Ample for a wingèd hope, And can earthward bend an ear For needful listening, pledge is here, That, if thy new-born Charge shall tread In thy footsteps, and be led By that other Guide, whose light Of manly virtues, mildly bright, Gave him first the wished-for part In thy gentle virgin heart, Then, amid the storms of life Presignified by that dread strife Whence ye have escaped together, She may look for serene weather; In all trials sure to find

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 697 Comfort for a faithful mind; Kindlier issues, holier rest, Than even now await her prest, Conscious Nursling, to thy breast!

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List, the winds of March are blowing; Her ground-flowers shrink, afraid of showing Their meek heads to the nipping air, Which ye feel not, happy pair! Sunk into a kindly sleep. We, meanwhile, our hope will keep; And if Time leagued with adverse Change (Too busy fear!) shall cross its range, Whatsoever check they bring, Anxious duty hindering, To like hope our prayers will cling. â•… Thus, while the ruminating spirit feeds Upon each home-event as life proceeds, Affections pure and holy in their source Gain a fresh impulse, run a livelier course; Hopes that within the Father’s heart prevail, Are in the experienced Grandsire’s slow to fail; And if the harp pleased his gay youth, it rings To his grave touch with no unready strings, While thoughts press on, and feelings overflow, And quick words round him fall like flakes of snow. â•… Thanks to the Powers that yet maintain their sway, And have renewed the tributary Lay. Truths of the heart flock in with eager pace, And Fancy greets them with a fond embrace; Swift as the rising sun his beams extends She shoots the tidings forth to distant friends; Their gifts she hails (deemed precious, as they prove For the unconscious Babe an unbelated love!)   Sequel to To ———, Upon the Birth of her First-born Child, March, 1833.

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698â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth But from this peaceful centre of delight Vague sympathies have urged her to take flight. She rivals the fleet Swallow, making rings In the smooth lake where’er he dips his wings: —Rapt into upper regions, like the Bee That sucks from mountain heath her honey fee; Or, like the warbling Lark intent to shroud His head in sunbeams or a bowery cloud, She soars—and here and there her pinions rest On proud towers, like this humble cottage, blest With a new visitant, an infant guest— Towers where red streamers flout the breezy sky In pomp foreseen by her creative eye, When feasts shall crowd the Hall, and steeple bells Glad proclamation make, and heights and dells Catch the blithe music as it sinks or swells; And harboured ships, whose pride is on the sea, Shall hoist their topmast flags in sign of glee, Honouring the hope of noble ancestry. â•… But who (though neither reckoning ills assigned By Nature, nor reviewing in the mind The track that was, and is, and must be, worn With weary feet by all of woman born)— Shall now by such a gift with joy be moved, Nor feel the fulness of that joy reproved? Not He, whose last faint memory will command The truth that Britain was his native land; Whose infant soul was tutored to confide In the cleansed faith for which her martyrs died; Whose boyish ear the voice of her renown With rapture thrilled; whose Youth revered the crown Of Saxon liberty that Alfred wore, Alfred, dear Babe, thy great Progenitor! —Not He, who from her mellowed practice drew His social sense of just, and fair, and true; And saw, thereafter, on the soil of France Rash Polity begin her maniac dance, Foundations broken up, the deeps run wild, Nor grieved to see, (himself not unbeguiled)—

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 699 Woke from the dream, the dreamer to upbraid, And learn how sanguine expectations fade When novel trusts by folly are betrayed,— To see presumption, turning pale, refrain From further havoc, but repent in vain,— Good aims lie down, and perish in the road Where guilt had urged them on, with ceaseless goad, Till undiscriminating Ruin swept The Land, and Wrong perpetual vigils kept; With proof before her that on public ends Domestic virtue vitally depends. â•… Can such a one, dear Babe! though glad and proud To welcome Thee, repel the fears that crowd Into his English breast, and spare to quake Not for his own, but for thy innocent sake? Too late—or, should the providence of God Lead, through blind ways by sin and sorrow trod, Justice and peace to a secure abode, Too soon—thou com’st into this breathing world; Ensigns of mimic outrage are unfurled. Who shall preserve or prop the tottering Realm? What hand suffice to govern the state-helm? If, in the aims of men, the surest test Of good or bad (whate’er be sought for or profest) Lie in the means required, or ways ordained, For compassing the end, else never gained; Yet governors and govern’d both are blind To this plain truth, or fling it to the wind; If to expedience principle must bow; Past, future, shrinking up beneath the incumbent Now; If cowardly concession still must feed The thirst for power in men who ne’er concede; If generous Loyalty must stand in awe Of subtle Treason, with his mask of law; Or with bravado insolent and hard, Provoking punishment, to win reward; If office help the factious to conspire, And they who should extinguish, fan the fire— Then, will the sceptre be a straw, the crown

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700â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sit loosely, like the thistle’s crest of down; To be blown off at will, by Power that spares it In cunning patience, from the head that wears it. â•… Lost people, trained to theoretic feud; Lost above all, ye labouring multitude! Bewildered whether ye, by slanderous tongues Deceived, mistake calamities for wrongs; And over fancied usurpations brood, Oft snapping at revenge in sullen mood; Or, from long stress of real injuries fly To desperation for a remedy; In bursts of outrage spread your judgments wide, And to your wrath cry out, “Be thou our guide;” Or, bound by oaths, come forth to tread earth’s floor In marshalled thousands, darkening street and moor With the worst shape mock-patience ever wore; Or, to the giddy top of self-esteem By Flatterers carried, mount into a dream Of boundless suffrage, at whose sage behest Justice shall rule, disorder be supprest, And every man sit down as Plenty’s Guest! —O for a bridle bitted with remorse To stop your Leaders in their headstrong course! Oh may the Almighty scatter with his grace These mists, and lead you to a safer place, By paths no human wisdom can foretrace! May He pour round you, from worlds far above Man’s feverish passions, his pure light of love, That quietly restores the natural mien To hope, and makes truth willing to be seen! Else shall your blood-stained hands in frenzy reap Fields gaily sown when promises were cheap. Why is the Past belied with wicked art, The Future made to play so false a part, Among a people famed for strength of mind, Foremost in freedom, noblest of mankind? We act as if we joyed in the sad tune Storms make in rising, valued in the moon Nought but her changes. Thus, ungrateful Nation!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 701 If thou persist, and, scorning moderation, Spread for thyself the snares of tribulation, Whom, then, shall meekness guard? What saving skill Lie in forbearance, strength in standing still? —Soon shall the Widow (for the speed of Time Nought equals when the hours are winged with crime) Widow, or Wife, implore on tremulous knee, From him who judged her Lord, a like decree; The skies will weep o’er old men desolate: Ye Little-ones! Earth shudders at your fate, Outcasts and homeless orphans—— â•… But turn, my Soul, and from the sleeping Pair Learn thou the beauty of omniscient care! Be strong in faith, bid anxious thoughts lie still; Seek for the good and cherish it—the ill Oppose, or bear with a submissive will.

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“He who defers his work from day to day” He who defers his work from day to day Does on a river’s bank expecting stay, Till the whole Stream which stopped him shall be gone Which runs and as it runs for ever will run on. To the Utilitarians Avaunt this œconomic rage! What would it bring?—an iron age, Where Fact with heartless search explored Shall be Imagination’s Lord, And sway with absolute controul, The god-like Functions of the Soul. Not thus can knowledge elevate Our Nature from her fallen state. With sober Reason Faith unites To vindicate the ideal rights Of Human-kind—the true agreeing Of objects with internal seeing, Of effort with the end of Being.—

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702â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The Labourer’s Noon-day Hymn Up to the throne of God is borne The voice of praise at early morn, And he accepts the punctual hymn Sung as the light of day grows dim. Nor will he turn his ear aside From holy offerings at noontide: Then here reposing let us raise A song of gratitude and praise. What though our burthen be not light We need not toil from morn to night; The respite of the mid-day hour Is in the thankful Creature’s power. Blest are the moments, doubly blest, That, drawn from this one hour of rest, Are with a ready heart bestowed Upon the service of our God! Why should we crave a hallowed spot? An Altar is in each man’s cot, A Church in every grove that spreads Its living roof above our heads.

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Look up to Heaven! the industrious Sun Already half his race hath run; He cannot halt nor go astray, But our immortal Spirits may. Lord! since his rising in the East, If we have faltered or transgressed, Guide, from thy love’s abundant source, What yet remains of this day’s course: Help with thy grace, through life’s short day Our upward and our downward way; And glorify for us the west, When we shall sink to final rest.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 703 Love Lies Bleeding You call it, “Love lies bleeding,”—so you may, Though the red Flower, not prostrate, only droops, As we have seen it here from day to day, From month to month, life passing not away: A flower how rich in sadness! Even thus stoops, (Sentient by Grecian sculpture’s marvellous power) Thus leans, with hanging brow and body bent Earthward in uncomplaining languishment, The dying Gladiator. So, sad Flower! (’Tis Fancy guides me willing to be led, â•… Though by a slender thread,) So drooped Adonis bathed in sanguine dew Of his death-wound, when he from innocent air The gentlest breath of resignation drew; While Venus in a passion of despair Rent, weeping over him, her golden hair Spangled with drops of that celestial shower. She suffered, as Immortals sometimes do; But pangs more lasting far, that Lover knew Who first, weighed down by scorn, in some lone bower Did press this semblance of unpitied smart Into the service of his constant heart, His own dejection, downcast Flower! could share With thine, and gave the mournful name which thou wilt ever bear.

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Companion to the Foregoing Never enlivened with the liveliest ray That fosters growth or checks or cheers decay, Nor by the heaviest rain-drops more deprest, This Flower, that first appeared as summer’s guest, Preserved her beauty among summer leaves, And to her mournful habits fondly cleaves. When files of stateliest plants have ceased to bloom, One after one submitting to their doom, When her coevals each and all are fled, What keeps her thus reclined upon her lonesome bed? â•… The old mythologists, more impress’d than we Of this late day by character in tree

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704â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Or herb, that claimed peculiar sympathy, Or by the silent lapse of fountain clear, Or with the language of the viewless air By bird or beast made vocal, sought a cause To solve the mystery, not in Nature’s laws But in Man’s fortunes. Hence a thousand tales Sung to the plaintive lyre in Grecian vales. Nor doubt that something of their spirit swayed The fancy-stricken youth or heart-sick maid, Who, while each stood companionless and eyed This undeparting Flower in crimson dyed, Thought of a wound which death is slow to cure, A fate that has endured and will endure, And, patience coveting yet passion feeding, Called the dejected Lingerer, Love lies bleeding.

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Written in an Album Small service is true service while it lasts; â•… Of Friends, however humble, scorn not one: The Daisy, by the shadow that it casts, â•… Protects the lingering dew-drop from the Sun. Lines suggested by a portrait from the pencil of f. stone

Beguiled into forgetfulness of care Due to the day’s unfinished task, of pen Or book regardless, and of that fair scene In Nature’s prodigality displayed Before my window, oftentimes and long I gaze upon a Portrait whose mild gleam Of beauty never ceases to enrich The common light; whose stillness charms the air, Or seems to charm it, into like repose; Whose silence, for the pleasure of the ear, Surpasses sweetest music. There she sits With emblematic purity attired In a white vest, white as her marble neck Is, and the pillar of the throat would be

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 705 But for the shadow by the drooping chin Cast into that recess—the tender shade The shade and light, both there and every where, And through the very atmosphere she breathes, Broad, clear, and toned harmoniously, with skill That might from nature have been learnt in the hour When the lone Shepherd sees the morning spread Upon the mountains. Look at her, whoe’er Thou be, that kindling with a poet’s soul Hast loved the painter’s true Promethean craft Intensely—from Imagination take The treasure, what mine eyes behold see thou, Even though the Atlantic Ocean roll between. â•… A silver line, that runs from brow to crown, And in the middle parts the braided hair, Just serves to show how delicate a soil The golden harvest grows in; and those eyes, Soft and capacious as a cloudless sky Whose azure depth their colour emulates, Must needs be conversant with upward looks, Prayer’s voiceless service; but now, seeking nought And shunning nought, their own peculiar life Of motion they renounce, and with the head Partake its inclination towards earth In humble grace, and quiet pensiveness Caught at the point where it stops short of sadness. â•… Offspring of soul-bewitching Art, make me Thy confidant! say, whence derived that air Of calm abstraction? Can the ruling thought Be with some lover far away, or one Crossed by misfortune, or of doubted faith? Inapt conjecture! Childhood here, a moon Crescent in simple loveliness serene, Has but approached the gates of womanhood, Not entered them; her heart is yet unpierced By the blind Archer-god, her fancy free: The fount of feeling, if unsought elsewhere, Will not be found.

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706â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… Her right hand, as it lies Across the slender wrist of the left arm Upon her lap reposing, holds—but mark How slackly, for the absent mind permits No firmer grasp—a little wild-flower, joined As in a posy, with a few pale ears Of yellowing corn, the same that overtopped And in their common birthplace sheltered it ’Till they were plucked together; a blue flower Called by the thrifty husbandman a weed ; But Ceres, in her garland, might have worn That ornament, unblamed. The floweret, held In scarcely conscious fingers, was, she knows, (Her Father told her so) in Youth’s gay dawn Her Mother’s favourite; and the orphan Girl, In her own dawn—a dawn less gay and bright, Loves it while there in solitary peace She sits, for that departed Mother’s sake. —Not from a source less sacred is derived (Surely I do not err) that pensive air Of calm abstraction through the face diffused And the whole person. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… Words have something told More than the pencil can, and verily More than is needed, but the precious Art Forgives their interference—Art divine, That both creates and fixes, in despite Of Death and Time, the marvels it hath wrought. â•… Strange contrasts have we in this world of ours! That posture, and the look of filial love Thinking of past and gone, with what is left Dearly united, might be swept away From this fair Portrait’s fleshly Archetype, Even by an innocent fancy’s slightest freak Banished, nor ever, haply, be restored To their lost place, or meet in harmony So exquisite; but here do they abide, Enshrined for ages. Is not then the Art

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 707 Godlike, a humble branch of the divine, In visible quest of immortality, Stretched forth with trembling hope? In every realm, From high Gibraltar to Siberian plains, Thousands, in each variety of tongue That Europe knows, would echo this appeal; One above all, a Monk who waits on God In the magnific Convent built of yore To sanctify the Escurial palace. He, Guiding, from cell to cell and room to room, A British Painter (eminent for truth In character, and depth of feeling, shown By labours that have touched the hearts of kings, And are endeared to simple cottagers) Left not unvisited a glorious work, Our Lord’s Last Supper, beautiful as when first The appropriate Picture, fresh from Titian’s hand, Graced the Refectory: and there, while both Stood with eyes fixed upon that Masterpiece, The hoary Father in the Stranger’s ear Breathed out these words:—“Here daily do we sit, Thanks given to God for daily bread, and here Pondering the mischiefs of these restless Times, And thinking of my Brethren, dead, dispersed, Or changed and changing, I not seldom gaze Upon this solemn Company unmoved By shock of circumstance, or lapse of years, Until I cannot but believe that they— They are in truth the Substance, we the Shadows.” â•… So spake the mild Jeronymite, his griefs Melting away within him like a dream Ere he had ceased to gaze, perhaps to speak: And I, grown old, but in a happier land, Domestic Portrait! have to verse consigned In thy calm presence those heart-moving words:

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  “The pile of buildings, composing the palace and convent of San Lorenzo, has, in common usage, lost its proper name in that of the Escurial, a village at the foot of the hill upon which the splendid edifice, built by Philip the Second, stands. It need scarcely be added, that Wilkie is the painter alluded to.” WW

708â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Words that can soothe, more than they agitate; Whose spirit, like the angel that went down Into Bethesda’s pool, with healing virtue Informs the fountain in the human breast That by the visitation was disturbed. ——But why this stealing tear? Companion mute, On thee I look, not sorrowing; fare thee well, My Song’s Inspirer, once again farewell!

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The Foregoing Subject Resumedâ•› Among a grave fraternity of Monks, For One, but surely not for One alone, Triumphs, in that great work, the Painter’s skill, Humbling the body, to exalt the soul; Yet representing, amid wreck and wrong And dissolution and decay, the warm And breathing life of flesh, as if already Clothed with impassive majesty, and graced With no mean earnest of a heritage Assigned to it in future worlds. Thou, too, With thy memorial flower, meek Portraiture! From whose serene companionship I passed, Pursued by thoughts that haunt me still; thou also— Though but a simple object, into light Called forth by those affections that endear The private hearth; though keeping thy sole seat In singleness, and little tried by time, Creation, as it were, of yesterday— With a congenial function art endued For each and all of us, together joined, In course of nature, under a low roof By charities and duties that proceed Out of the bosom of a wiser vow. To a like salutary sense of awe,

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  “In the class entitled “Musings,” in Mr. Southey’s Minor Poems, is one upon his own miniature Picture, taken in childhood, and another upon a landscape painted by Gaspar Poussin. It is possible that every word of the above verses, though similar in subject, might have been written had the author been unacquainted with those beautiful effusions of poetic sentiment. But, for his own satisfaction, he must be allowed thus publicly to acknowledge the pleasure those two poems of his Friend have given him, and the grateful influence they have upon his mind as often as he reads them, or thinks of them.” WW

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 709 Or sacred wonder, growing with the power Of meditation that attempts to weigh, In faithful scales, things and their opposites, Can thy enduring quiet gently raise A household small and sensitive,—whose love, Dependent as in part its blessings are Upon frail ties dissolving or dissolved On earth, will be revived, we trust, in heaven.

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“Desponding Father! mark this altered bough” Desponding Father! mark this altered bough, So beautiful of late, with sunshine warmed, Or moist with dews; what more unsightly now, Its blossoms shrivelled, and its fruit, if formed, Invisible? yet Spring her genial brow Knits not o’er that discolouring and decay As false to expectation. Nor fret thou At like unlovely process in the May Of human life: a Stripling’s graces blow, Fade and are shed, that from their timely fall (Misdeem it not a cankerous change) may grow Rich mellow bearings, that for thanks shall call; In all men, sinful is it to be slow To hope—in Parents, sinful above all.

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Lines written in the album of the countess of nov.

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Lady! a Pen, perhaps, with thy regard, Among the Favoured, favoured not the least, Left, ’mid the Records of this Book inscribed, Deliberate traces, registers of thought And feeling, suited to the place and time That gave them birth:—months passed, and still this hand, That had not been too timid to imprint Words which the virtues of thy Lord inspired, Was yet not bold enough to write of Thee.

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â•… WW identified the Countess Lonsdale in the third edition of Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems (1839).

710â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And why that scrupulous reserve? In sooth The blameless cause lay in the Theme itself. Flowers are there many that delight to strive With the sharp wind, and seem to court the shower, Yet are by nature careless of the sun Whether he shine on them or not; and some, Where’er he moves along the unclouded sky, Turn a broad front full on his flattering beams: Others do rather from their notice shrink, Loving the dewy shade,—a humble Band, Modest and sweet, a Progeny of earth, Congenial with thy mind and character, High-born Augusta! â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… Towers, and stately Groves, Bear witness for me; thou, too, Mountain-stream! From thy most secret haunts; and ye Parterres, Which she is pleased and proud to call her own; Witness how oft upon my noble Friend Mute offerings, tribute from an inward sense Of admiration and respectful love, Have waited, till the affections could no more Endure that silence, and broke out in song; Snatches of music taken up and dropt Like those self-solacing those under notes Trilled by the redbreast, when autumnal leaves Are thin upon the bough. Mine, only mine, The pleasure was, and no one heard the praise, Checked, in the moment of its issue checked; And reprehended by a fancied blush From the pure qualities that called it forth. â•… Thus Virtue lives debarred from Virtue’s meed; Thus, Lady, is retiredness a veil That, while it only spreads a softening charm O’er features looked at by discerning eyes, Hides half their beauty from the common gaze; And thus, even on the exposed and breezy hill Of lofty station, female goodness walks, When side by side with lunar gentleness,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 711 As in a cloister. Yet the grateful Poor (Such the immunities of low estate, Plain Nature’s enviable privilege, Her sacred recompence for many wants) Open their hearts before Thee, pouring out All that they think and feel, with tears of joy; And benedictions not unheard in Heaven: And friend in the ear of friend, where speech is free To follow truth, is eloquent as they. â•… Then let the Book receive in these prompt lines A just memorial; and thine eyes consent To read that they, who mark thy course, behold A life declining with the golden light Of summer, in the season of sere leaves; See cheerfulness undamped by stealing Time; See studied kindness flow with easy stream, Illustrated with inborn courtesy; And an habitual disregard of self Balanced by vigilance for others’ weal. â•… And shall the verse not tell of lighter gifts With these ennobling attributes conjoined And blended, in peculiar harmony, By Youth’s surviving spirit? What agile grace! A nymph-like liberty, in nymph-like form, Beheld with wonder; whether floor or path Thou tread, or on the managed steed art borne, Fleet as the shadows, over down or field, Driven by strong winds at play among the clouds. â•… Yet one word more—one farewell word—a wish Which came, but it has passed into a prayer, That, as thy sun in brightness is declining, So, at an hour yet distant for their sakes Whose tender love, here faltering on the way Of a diviner love, will be forgiven,— So may it set in peace, to rise again For everlasting glory won by faith.

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712â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth “Fairy skill” Fairy skill, Fairy’s hand, And a quill From fairy-land, Album small! Are needed all To write in you; So adieu â•…â•…â•… W.W.—

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The Redbreast (suggested in a westmoreland cottage) Driven in by Autumn’s sharpening air, From half-stripped woods and pastures bare, Brisk Robin seeks a kindlier home: Not like a beggar is he come, But enters as a looked-for guest, Confiding in his ruddy breast, As if it were a natural shield Charged with a blazon on the field, Due to that good and pious deed Of which we in the Ballad read. But pensive fancies putting by, And wild-wood sorrows, speedily He plays the expert ventriloquist; And, caught by glimpses now—now missed, Puzzles the listener with a doubt If the soft voice he throws about Comes from within doors of without! Was ever such a sweet confusion, Sustained by delicate illusion? He’s at your elbow—to your feeling The notes are from the floor or ceiling; And there’s a riddle to be guessed, ’Till you have marked his heaving breast, Where tiny sinking, and faint swell, Betray the Elf that loves to dwell

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 713 In Robin’s bosom, as a chosen cell. â•… Heart-pleased we smile upon the Bird If seen, and with like pleasure stirred Commend him, when he’s only heard. But small and fugitive our gain Compared with his who long hath lain, With languid limbs and patient head, Reposing on a lone sick-bed; Where now he daily hears a strain That cheats him of too busy cares, Eases his pain, and helps his prayers. And who but this dear Bird beguiled The fever of that pale-faced Child? Now cooling, with his passing wing, Her forhead, like a breeze of Spring; Recalling now, with descant soft Shed round her pillow from aloft, Sweet thoughts of angels hovering nigh, And the invisible sympathy Of “Mathew, Mark, and Luke, and John, Blessing the bed she lies upon:” And sometimes, just as listening ends In slumber, with the cadence blends A dream of that low-warbled hymn Which Old-folk, fondly pleased to trim Lamps of faith now burning dim, Say that the Cherubs carved in stone, When clouds gave way at dead of night, And the moon filled the church with light, Used to sing in heavenly tone, Above and round the sacred places They guard, with wingèd baby-faces. â•… Thrice-happy Creature! in all lands Nurtured by hospitable hands: Free entrance to this cot has he,   “The words— ‘Mathew, Mark, and Luke, and John,     Bless the bed that I lie on,’ are part of a child’s prayer, still in general use through the northern counties.” WW

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714â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Entrance and exit both yet free; And, when the keen unruffled weather That thus brings man and bird together, Shall with its pleasantness be past, And casement closed and door made fast, To keep at bay the howling blast, He needs not fear the season’s rage, For the whole house is Robin’s cage. Whether the bird flit here or there, O’er table lilt, or perch on chair, Though some may frown, and make a stir To scare him as a trespasser, And he belike will flinch or start, Good friends he has to take his part; One chiefly, who with voice and look Pleads for him from the chimney nook, Where sits the Dame, and wears away Her long and vacant holiday; With images about her heart, Reflected, from the years gone by, On human nature’s second infancy.

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Upon Seeing a Coloured Drawing of the Bird of Paradise in an Album Who rashly strove thy Image to portray? Thou buoyant minion of the tropic air; How could he think of the live creature—gay With a divinity of colours—drest In all her brightness, from the dancing crest Far as the last gleam of the filmy train Extended and extending to sustain The motions that it graces—and forbear To drop his pencil! Flowers of every clime Depicted on these pages smile at time; And gorgeous insects copied with nice care Are here, and likenesses of many a shell Tossed ashore by restless waves, Or in the diver’s grasp fetched up from caves Where sea-nymphs might be proud to dwell:

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 715 But whose rash hand (again I ask) could dare, ’Mid casual tokens and promiscuous shows, To circumscribe this shape in fixed repose; Could imitate for indolent survey, Perhaps for touch profane, Plumes that might catch, but cannot keep a stain; And, with cloud-streaks lightest and loftiest, share The sun’s first greeting, his last farewell ray! â•… Resplendent Wanderer! followed with glad eyes Where’er her course; mysterious Bird! To whom, by wondering Fancy stirred, Eastern Islanders have given A holy name—the Bird of Heaven! And even a title higher still, The Bird of God! whose blessed will She seems performing as she flies Over the earth and through the skies In never-wearied search of Paradise— Region that crowns her beauty, with the name She bears for us—for us how blest, How happy at all seasons, could like aim Uphold our Spirits urged to kindred flight On wings that fear no glance of God’s pure sight, No tempest from his breath, their promised rest Seeking with indefatigable quest Above a world that deems itself most wise When most enslaved by gross realities.

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Airey-force Valley â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… —Not a breath of air Ruffles the bosom of this leafy glen. From the brook’s margin, wide around, the trees Are stedfast as the rocks; the brook itself, Old as the hills that feed it from afar, Doth rather deepen than disturb the calm Where all things else are still and motionless. And yet, even now, a little breeze, perchance Escaped from boisterous winds that rage without, Has entered, by the sturdy oaks unfelt;

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716â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth But to its gentle touch how sensitive Is the light ash! that, pendent from the brow Of yon dim cave, in seeming silence makes A soft eye-music of slow-waving boughs, Powerful almost as vocal harmony To stay the wanderer’s steps and soothe his thoughts.

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To the Moon (composed by the sea-side,—on the coast of cumberland) Wanderer! that stoop’st so low, and com’st so near To human life’s unsettled atmosphere; Who lov’st with Night and Silence to partake, So might it seem, the cares of them that wake; And, through the cottage-lattice softly peeping, Dost shield from harm the humblest of the sleeping; What pleasure once encompassed those sweet names Which yet in thy behalf the Poet claims, An idolizing dreamer as of yore!— I slight them all; and, on this sea-beat shore Sole-sitting, only can to thoughts attend That bid me hail thee as the Sailor’s Friend; So call thee for heaven’s grace through thee made known By confidence supplied and mercy shown, When not a twinkling star or beacon’s light Abates the perils of a stormy night; And for less obvious benefits, that find Their way, with thy pure help, to heart and mind; Both for the adventurer starting in life’s prime; And veteran ranging round from clime to clime, Long-baffled hope’s slow fever in his veins, And wounds and weakness oft his labour’s sole remains. â•… The aspiring Mountains and the winding Streams Empress of Night! are gladdened by thy beams; A look of thine the wilderness pervades, And penetrates the forest’s inmost shades; Thou, chequering peaceably the minster’s gloom, Guid’st the pale Mourner to the lost one’s tomb; Canst reach the Prisoner—to his grated cell

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 717 Welcome, though silent and intangible!— And lives there one, of all that come and go On the great waters toiling to and fro, One, who has watched thee at some quiet hour Enthroned aloft in undisputed power, Or crossed by vapoury streaks and clouds that move Catching the lustre they in part reprove— Nor sometimes felt a fitness in thy sway To call up thoughts that shun the glare of day, And make the serious happier than the gay?

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â•… Yes, lovely Moon! if thou so mildly bright Dost rouse, yet surely in thy own despite, To fiercer mood the phrenzy-stricken brain, Let me a compensating faith maintain; That there’s a sensitive, a tender, part Which thou canst touch in every human heart, For healing and composure.—But, as least And mightiest billows ever have confessed Thy domination; as the whole vast Sea Feels through her lowest depths thy sovereignty; So shines that countenance with especial grace On them who urge the keel her plains to trace Furrowing its way right onward. The most rude, Cut off from home and country, may have stood— Even till long gazing hath bedimmed his eye, Or the mute rapture ended in a sigh— Touched by accordance of thy placid cheer, With some internal lights to memory dear, Or fancies stealing forth to soothe the breast Tired with its daily share of earth’s unrest,— Gentle awakenings, visitations meek; A kindly influence whereof few will speak, Though it can wet with tears the hardiest cheek.

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â•… And when thy beauty in the shadowy cave Is hidden, buried in its monthly grave; Then, while the Sailor, mid an open sea Swept by a favouring wind that leaves thought free, Paces the deck—no star perhaps in sight,

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718â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And nothing save the moving ship’s own light To cheer the long dark hours of vacant night— Oft with his musings does thy image blend, In his mind’s eye thy crescent horns ascend, And thou art still, O Moon, that Sailor’s Friend!

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To the Moon (rydal) Queen of the stars!—so gentle, so benign, That ancient Fable did to thee assign, When darkness creeping o’er thy silver brow Warned thee these upper regions to forego, Alternate empire in the shades below— A Bard, who, lately near the wide-spread sea Traversed by gleaming ships, looked up to thee With grateful thoughts, doth now thy rising hail From the close confines of a shadowy vale. Glory of night, conspicuous yet serene, Nor less attractive when by glimpses seen Through cloudy umbrage, well might that fair face, And all those attributes of modest grace, In days when Fancy wrought unchecked by fear, Down to the green earth fetch thee from thy sphere, To sit in leafy woods by fountains clear! â•… O still belov’d (for thine, meek Power, are charms That fascinate the very Babe in arms, While he, uplifted towards thee, laughs outright, Spreading his little palms in his glad Mother’s sight) O still belov’d, once worshipped! Time, that frowns In his destructive flight on earthly crowns, Spares thy mild splendour; still those far-shot beams Tremble on dancing waves and rippling streams With stainless touch, as chaste as when thy praise Was sung by Virgin-choirs in festal lays; And through dark trials still dost thou explore Thy way for increase punctual as of yore, When teeming Matrons—yielding to rude faith In mysteries of birth and life and death

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 719 And painful struggle and deliverance—prayed Of thee to visit them with lenient aid. What though the rites be swept away, the fanes Extinct that echoed to the votive strains; Yet thy mild aspect does not, cannot cease, Love to promote and purity and peace; And Fancy, unreproved, even yet may trace Faint types of suffering in thy beamless face. â•… Then, silent Monitress! let us—not blind To worlds unthought of till the searching mind Of Science laid them open to mankind— Told, also, how the voiceless heavens declare God’s glory; and acknowledging thy share In that blest charge; let us—without offence To aught of highest, holiest, influence— Receive whatever good ’tis given thee to dispense. May sage and simple, catching with one eye The moral intimations of the sky, Learn from thy course, where’er their own be taken, ‘To look on tempests, and be never shaken;’ To keep with faithful step the appointed way Eclipsing or eclipsed, by night or day, And from example of thy monthly range Gently to brook decline and fatal change; Meek, patient, stedfast, and with loftier scope, Than thy revival yields, for gladsome hope!

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“To a good Man of most dear memory” To a good Man of most dear memory This Stone is sacred. Here he lies apart From the great city where he first drew breath, Was reared and taught; and humbly earned his bread, To the strict labours of the merchant’s desk By duty chained. Not seldom did those tasks Tease, and the thought of time so spent depress, His spirit, but the recompence was high; Firm Independence, Bounty’s rightful sire;   Charles Lamb died December 27, 1834.

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720â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Affections, warm as sunshine, free as air; And when the precious hours of leisure came, Knowledge and wisdom, gained from converse sweet With books, or while he ranged the crowded streets With a keen eye, and overflowing heart: So genius triumphed over seeming wrong, And poured out truth in works by thoughtful love Inspired—works potent over smiles and tears. And as round mountain-tops the lightning plays, Thus innocently sported, breaking forth As from a cloud of some grave sympathy, Humour and wild instinctive wit, and all The vivid flashes of his spoken words. From the most gentle creature nursed in fields Had been derived the name he bore—a name, Wherever christian altars have been raised, Hallowed to meekness and to innocence; And if in him meekness at times gave way, Provoked out of herself by troubles strange, Many and strange, that hung about his life; Still, at the centre of his being, lodged A soul by resignation sanctified: And if too often, self-reproached, he felt That innocence belongs not to our kind, A power that never ceased to abide in him, Charity, ’mid the multitude of sins That she can cover, left not his exposed To an unforgiving judgment from just Heaven. O, he was good, if e’er a good Man lived! *â•… *â•… *â•… *â•… * From a reflecting mind and sorrowing heart Those simple lines flowed with an earnest wish, Though but a doubting hope, that they might serve Fitly to guard the precious dust of him Whose virtues called them forth. That aim is missed; For much that truth most urgently required Had from a faltering pen been asked in vain: Yet, haply, on the printed page received, The imperfect record, there, may stand unblamed

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 721 As long as verse of mine shall breathe the air Of memory, or see the light of love. â•… Thou wert a scorner of the fields, my Friend! But more in show than truth; and from the fields, And from the mountains, to thy rural grave Transported, my soothed spirit hovers o’er Its green untrodden turf, and blowing flowers; And taking up a voice shall speak (tho’ still Awed by the theme’s peculiar sanctity Which words less free presumed not even to touch) Of that fraternal love, whose heaven-lit lamp From infancy, through manhood, to the last Of threescore years, and to thy latest hour, Burnt on with ever-strengthening light, enshrined Within thy bosom. ‘Wonderful’ hath been The love established between man and man, ‘Passing the love of women;’ and between Man and his help-mate in fast wedlock joined Through God, is raised a spirit and soul of love Without whose blissful influence Paradise Had been no Paradise; and earth were now A waste where creatures bearing human form, Direst of savage beasts, would roam in fear, Joyless and comfortless. Our days glide on; And let him grieve who cannot choose but grieve That he hath been an Elm without his Vine, And her bright dower of clustering charities, That, round his trunk and branches, might have clung Enriching and adorning. Unto thee Not so enriched, not so adorned, to thee Was given (say rather thou of later birth Wert given to her) a Sister—’tis a word Timidly uttered, for she lives, the meek, The self-restraining, and the ever-kind; In whom thy reason and intelligent heart Found—for all interests, hopes, and tender cares, All softening, humanising, hallowing powers, Whether withheld, or for her sake unsought—

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722â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth More than sufficient recompence!

Her love (What weakness prompts the voice to tell it here?) Was as the love of mothers; and when years, Lifting the boy to man’s estate, had called The long-protected to assume the part Of a protector, the first filial tie Was undissolved; and, in or out of sight, Remained imperishably interwoven With life itself. Thus, ’mid a shifting world, Did they together testify of time And season’s difference—a double tree With two collateral stems sprung from one root; Such were they—such thro’ life they might have been In union, in partition only such; Otherwise wrought the will of the Most High; Yet, thro’ all visitations and all trials, Still they were faithful; like two vessels launched From the same beach one ocean to explore With mutual help, and sailing—to their league True, as inexorable winds, or bars Floating or fixed of polar ice, allow. â•… But turn we rather, let my spirit turn With thine, O silent and invisible Friend! To those dear intervals, nor rare nor brief, When reunited, and by choice withdrawn From miscellaneous converse, ye were taught That the remembrance of foregone distress, And the worse fear of future ill (which oft Doth hang around it, as a sickly child Upon its mother) may be both alike Disarmed of power to unsettle present good So prized, and things inward and outward held In such an even balance, that the heart Acknowledges God’s grace, his mercy feels, And in its depth of gratitude is still. â•… O gift divine of quiet sequestration! The hermit, exercised in prayer and praise,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 723 And feeding daily on the hope of heaven, Is happy in his vow, and fondly cleaves To life-long singleness; but happier far Was to your souls, and, to the thoughts of others, A thousand times more beautiful appeared, Your dual loneliness. The sacred tie Is broken; yet why grieve? for Time but holds His moiety in trust, till Joy shall lead To the blest world where parting is unknown.

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Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg When first, descending from the moorlands, I saw the Stream of Yarrow glide Along a bare and open valley, The Ettrick Shepherd was my guide. When last along its banks I wandered, Through groves that had begun to shed Their golden leaves upon the pathways, My steps the border minstrel led. The mighty Minstrel breathes no longer, Mid mouldering ruins low he lies; And death upon the braes of Yarrow, Has closed the Shepherd-poet’s eyes: Nor has the rolling year twice measured, From sign to sign, its stedfast course, Since every mortal power of Coleridge Was frozen at its marvellous source; The ’rapt One, of the godlike forehead, The heaven-eyed creature sleeps in earth: And Lamb, the frolic and the gentle, Has vanished from his lonely hearth. Like clouds that rake the mountain-summits, Or waves that own no curbing hand, How fast has brother followed brother, From sunshine to the sunless land!

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724â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Yet I, whose lids from infant slumbers Were earlier raised, remain to hear A timid voice, that asks in whispers, “Who next will drop and disappear?” Our haughty life is crowned with darkness, Like London with its own black wreath, On which with thee, O Crabbe! forth-looking, I gazed from Hampstead’s breezy heath. As if but yesterday departed, Thou too art gone before; but why, O’er ripe fruit, seasonably gathered, Should frail survivors heave a sigh? Mourn rather for that holy Spirit, Sweet as the spring, as ocean deep; For Her who, ere her summer faded, Has sunk into a breathless sleep.

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No more of old romantic sorrows, For slaughtered Youth or love-lorn Maid! With sharper grief is Yarrow smitten, And Ettrick mourns with her their Poet dead. At the Grave of Burns 1803

I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold, At thought of what I now behold: As vapours breathed from dungeons cold â•…â•… Strike pleasure dead, So sadness comes from out the mould â•…â•… Where Burns is laid. And have I then thy bones so near, And thou forbidden to appear? As if it were thyself that’s here, â•…â•… I shrink with pain;

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â•… In a note WW identified the five poets elegized in this poem: “Walter Scott died 21st Sept. 1832. S. T. Coleridge 25th July, 1834. Charles Lamb 27th Dec. 1834. Geo. Crabbe 3rd Feb. 1832. Felicia Hemans 16th May, 1835.”

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 725 And both my wishes and my fear â•…â•… Alike are vain. Off weight—nor press on weight!—away Dark thoughts!—they came, but not to stay; With chastened feelings would I pay â•…â•… The tribute due To him, and aught that hides his clay â•…â•… From mortal view. Fresh as the flower, whose modest worth He sang, his genius “glinted” forth, Rose like a star that touching earth, â•…â•… For so it seems, Doth glorify its humble birth â•…â•… With matchless beams. The piercing eye, the thoughtful brow, The struggling heart, where be they now?— Full soon the Aspirant of the plough, â•…â•… The prompt, the brave, Slept, with the obscurest, in the low â•…â•… And silent grave. Well might I mourn that He was gone Whose light I hailed when first it shone, When, breaking forth as nature’s own, â•…â•… It showed my youth How Verse may build a princely throne â•…â•… On humble truth. Alas! where’er the current tends, Regret pursues and with it blends,— Huge Criffel’s hoary top ascends â•…â•… By Skiddaw seen,— Neighbours we were, and loving friends â•…â•… We might have been; True friends though diversely inclined; But heart with heart and mind with mind, Where the main fibres are entwined, â•…â•… Through Nature’s skill,

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726â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth May even by contraries be joined â•…â•… More closely still. The tear will start, and let it flow; Thou “poor Inhabitant below,” At this dread moment—even so— â•…â•… Might we together Have sate and talked where gowans blow, â•…â•… Or on wild heather. What treasures would have then been placed Within my reach; of knowledge graced By fancy what a rich repast! â•…â•… But why go on?— Oh! spare to sweep, thou mournful blast, â•…â•… His grave grass-grown. There, too, a Son, his joy and pride, (Not three weeks past the Stripling died,) Lies gathered to his Father’s side, â•…â•… Soul-moving sight! Yet one to which is not denied â•…â•… Some sad delight. For he is safe, a quiet bed Hath early found among the dead, Harboured where none can be misled, â•…â•… Wronged, or distrest; And surely here it may be said â•…â•… That such are blest. And oh for Thee, by pitying grace Checked oft-times in a devious race, May He who halloweth the place â•…â•… Where Man is laid Receive thy Spirit in the embrace â•…â•… For which it prayed! Sighing I turned away; but ere Night fell I heard, or seemed to hear, Music that sorrow comes not near, â•…â•… A ritual hymn,

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 727 Chaunted in love that casts out fear â•…â•… By Seraphim. Thoughts suggested the day following on the banks of nith, near the poet’s residence

Too frail to keep the lofty vow That must have followed when his brow Was wreathed—”The Vision” tells us how— â•…â•… With holly spray, He faultered, drifted to and fro, â•…â•… And passed away. Well might such thoughts, dear Sister, throng Our minds when, lingering all too long, Over the grave of Burns we hung â•…â•… In social grief— Indulged as if it were a wrong â•…â•… To seek relief. But, leaving each unquiet theme Where gentlest judgments may misdeem, And prompt to welcome every gleam â•…â•… Of good and fair, Let us beside this limpid Stream â•…â•… Breathe hopeful air. Enough of sorrow, wreck, and blight; Think rather of those moments bright When to the consciousness of right â•…â•… His course was true, When Wisdom prospered in his sight â•…â•… And virtue grew. Yes, freely let our hearts expand, Freely as in youth’s season bland, When side by side, his Book in hand, â•…â•… We wont to stray, Our pleasure varying at command â•…â•… Of each sweet Lay.

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728â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth How oft inspired must he have trod These pathways, yon far-stretching road! There lurks his home; in that Abode, â•…â•… With mirth elate, Or in his nobly-pensive mood, â•…â•… The Rustic sate. Proud thoughts that Image overawes, Before it humbly let us pause, And ask of Nature, from what cause â•…â•… And by what rules She trained her Burns to win applause â•…â•… That shames the Schools. Through busiest street and loneliest glen Are felt the flashes of his pen; He rules mid winter snows, and when â•…â•… Bees fill their hives; Deep in the general heart of men â•…â•… His power survives. What need of fields in some far clime Where Heroes, Sages, Bards sublime, And all that fetched the flowing rhyme â•…â•… From genuine springs, Shall dwell together till old Time â•…â•… Folds up his wings? Sweet Mercy! to the gates of Heaven This Minstrel lead, his sins forgiven; The rueful conflict, the heart riven â•…â•… With vain endeavour, And memory of Earth’s bitter leaven, â•…â•… Effaced for ever. But why to Him confine the prayer, When kindred thoughts and yearnings bear On the frail heart the purest share â•…â•… With all that live?— The best of what we do and are, â•…â•… Just God, forgive!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 729 A Night Thought. Lo! where the Moon along the sky Sails with her happy destiny; Oft is she hid from mortal eye Or dimly seen, But when the clouds asunder fly How bright her mien! Far different we—a froward race, Thousands though rich in Fortune’s grace With cherished sullenness of pace Their way pursue, Ingrates who wear a smileless face The whole year through. If kindred humours e’er would make My spirit droop for drooping’s sake, From Fancy following in thy wake, Bright ship of heaven! A counter impulse let me take And be forgiven.

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On an Event in Col: Evans’s redoubted performances in Spain The Ball whizzed by—it grazed his ear, And whispered as it flew, I only touch—not take—don’t fear For both, my honest Buccaneer! Are to the Pillory due. November, 1836 Even so for me a Vision sanctified The sway of Death; long ere mine eyes had seen Thy countenance—the still rapture of thy mien— When thou, dear Sister! wert become Death’s Bride: No trace of pain or languor could abide That change:—age on thy brow was smoothed—thy cold Wan cheek at once was privileged to unfold A loveliness to living youth denied. Oh! if within me hope should e’er decline,

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730â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The lamp of faith, lost Friend! too faintly burn; Then may that heaven-revealing smile of thine, The bright assurance, visibly return: And let my spirit in that power divine Rejoice, as, through that power, it ceased to mourn.

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The Widow on Windermere Side i

How beautiful, when up a lofty height Honour ascends among the humblest poor, And feeling sinks as deep! See there the door Of One, a Widow, left beneath a weight Of blameless debt. On evil Fortune’s spite She wasted no complaint, but strove to make A just repayment, both for conscience-sake And that herself and hers should stand upright In the world’s eye. Her work when daylight failed Paused not, and through the depth of night she kept Such earnest vigils, that belief prevailed With some, the noble creature never slept; But, one by one, the hand of death assailed Her children from her inmost heart bewept.

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The Mother mourned, nor ceased her tears to flow, Till a winter’s noon-day placed her buried Son Before her eyes, last child of many gone— His raiment of angelic white, and lo! His very feet bright as the dazzling snow Which they are touching; yea far brighter, even As that which comes, or seems to come, from heaven, Surpasses aught these elements can show. Much she rejoiced, trusting that from that hour Whate’er befel she could not grieve or pine; But the Transfigured, in and out of season, Appeared, and spiritual presence gained a power Over material forms that mastered reason. Oh, gracious Heaven, in pity make her thine!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 731 iii

But why that prayer? as if to her could come No good but by the way that leads to bliss Through Death,—so judging we should judge amiss. Since reason failed want is her threatened doom, Yet frequent transports mitigate the gloom: Nor of those maniacs is she one that kiss The air or laugh upon a precipice; No, passing through strange sufferings toward the tomb, She smiles as if a martyr’s crown were won: Oft, when light breaks through clouds or waving trees, With outspread arms and fallen upon her knees The Mother hails in her descending Son An Angel, and in earthly ecstacies Her own angelic glory seems begun.

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To the Planet Venus, upon its approximation (as an evening star) to the earth, january

1838

What strong allurement draws, what spirit guides Thee, Vesper! brightening still, as if the nearer Thou com’st to man’s abode the spot grew dearer Night after night? True is it, Nature hides Her treasures less and less—Man now presides, In power, where once he trembled in his weakness; Knowledge advances with gigantic strides; But are we aught enriched in love and meekness? Aught dost thou see, bright Star! of pure and wise More than in humbler times graced human story; That makes our hearts more apt to sympathise With heaven, our souls more fit for future glory, When earth shall vanish from our closing eyes, Ere we lie down in our last dormitory? “Wouldst Thou be gathered to Christ’s chosen flock” Wouldst Thou be gathered to Christ’s chosen flock Shun the broad way too easily explored And let thy path be hewn out of the rock

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732â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The living Rock of God’s eternal word. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… 1838 “Oh what a Wreck! how changed in mien and speech!” Oh what a Wreck! how changed in mien and speech! Yet—though dread Powers, that work in mystery, spin Entanglings of the brain; though shadows stretch O’er the chilled heart—reflect; far, far within Hers is a holy Being, freed from Sin. She is not what she seems, a forlorn wretch, But delegated Spirits comfort fetch To Her from heights that Reason may not win. Like Children, She is privileged to hold Divine communion; both do live and move, Whate’er to shallow Faith their ways unfold, Inly illumined by Heaven’s pitying love; Love pitying innocence not long to last, In them—in Her our sins and sorrows past.

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Valedictory Sonnetâ•› Serving no haughty Muse, my hands have here Disposed some cultured Flowerets (drawn from spots Where they bloomed singly, or in scattered knots) Each kind in several beds of one parterre; Both to allure the casual Loiterer, And that, so placed, my nurslings may requite Studious regard with opportune delight, Nor be unthanked, unless I fondly err. But, metaphor dismissed, and thanks apart, Reader, farewell! My last words let them be,— If in this book Fancy and Truth agree; If simple Nature trained by careful Art Through It have won a passage to thy heart; Grant me thy love, I crave no other fee!

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  WW pays tribute to Edith Southey, Robert Southey’s wife.   WW ended a section of sonnets in Poems of Early and Late Years (1842) with this sonnet.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 733 “Said red-ribbon’d Evans” Said red-ribbon’d Evans ‘My legions in Spain Were at sixes and sevens; Now they’re famished or slain: But no fault of mine, For like brave Philip Sidney In campaigning I shine, A true knight of his kidney. Sound flogging and fighting; No Chief, on my troth, Eer took such delight in As I in them both. Fontarabbia can tell How my eyes watched the foe, Hernani knows well That our feet were not slow Our hospitals, too, Are matchless in story, Where her thousands fate slew All panting for glory.” Alas for this Hero His fame touched the skies, Then fell below Zero; Never never to rise! For him to Westminster Did Prudence convey, There safe as a Spinster The Patriot to play. But why be so glad on His feats, or his fall? He’s got his red ribbon And laughs at us all.— “Hark! ’tis the Thrush, undaunted, undeprest” Hark! ’tis the Thrush, undaunted, undeprest, By twilight premature of cloud and rain; Nor does that roaring wind deaden his strain Who carols thinking of his Love and nest,

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734â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And seems, as more incited, still more blest. Thanks, thou hast snapped a fire-side Prisoner’s chain, Exulting Warbler! eased a fretted brain, And in a moment charmed my cares to rest. Yes, I will forth, bold Bird! and front the blast, That we may sing together, if thou wilt, So loud, so clear, my Partner through life’s day, Mute in her nest love-chosen, if not love-built Like thine, shall gladden, as in seasons past, Thrilled by loose snatches of the social Lay. Rydal Mount, 1838.

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“’Tis He whose yester-evening’s high disdain” ’Tis He whose yester-evening’s high disdain Beat back the roaring storm—but how subdued His day-break note, a sad vicissitude! Does the hour’s drowsy weight his glee restrain? Or, like the nightingale, her joyous vein Pleased to renounce, does this dear Thrush attune His voice to suit the temper of yon Moon Doubly depressed, setting, and in her wane? Rise, tardy Sun! and let the Songster prove (The balance trembling between night and morn No longer) with what ecstasy upborne He can pour forth his spirit. In heaven above, And earth below, they best can serve true gladness Who meet most feelingly the calls of sadness.

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A Plea for Authors. May, 1838 Failing impartial measure to dispense To every suitor, Equity is lame; And social Justice, stript of reverence For natural rights, a mockery and a shame; Law but a servile dupe of false pretence, If, guarding grossest things from common claim Now and for ever, She, to works that came From mind and spirit, grudge a short-lived fence. “What! lengthened privilege, a lineal tie For books!” Yes, heartless Ones, or be it proved

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 735 That ’tis a fault in Us to have lived and loved Like others, with like temporal hopes to die; No public harm that Genius from her course Be turned; and streams of truth dried up, even at their source! Protest against the Ballot 1838

Forth rushed, from Envy sprung and Self-conceit, A Power misnamed the Spirit of Reform, And through the astonished Island swept in storm, Threatening to lay all Orders at her feet That crossed her way. Now stoops she to entreat License to hide at intervals her head, Where she may work, safe, undisquieted, In a close Box, covert for Justice meet. St. George of England! keep a watchful eye Fixed on the Suitor; frustrate her request— Stifle her hope; for, if the State comply, From such Pandorian gift may come a Pest Worse than the Dragon that bowed low his crest, Pierced by the spear in glorious victory.

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Composed on the same Morningâ•› Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun, Yet Nature seems to them a heavenly guide. Does joy approach? they meet the coming tide; And sullenness avoid, as now they shun Pale twilight’s lingering glooms,—and in thesun Couch near their dams, with quiet satisfied; Or gambol—each with his shadow at his side Varying its shape wherever he may run. As they from turf yet hoar with sleepy dew All turn, and court the shining and the green, Where herbs look up, and opening flowers are seen; Why to God’s goodness cannot We be true, And so, His gifts and promises between, Feed to the last on pleasures ever new?

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  WW originally paired this sonnet with Composed on a May-Morning. 1838 (“If with old love of you, dear Hills! I share”), in Memorials of a Tour in Italy, above.

736â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth A Poet to his Grandchild (sequel to the foregoing) “Son of my buried Son, while thus thy hand “Is clasping mine, it saddens me to think “How Want may press thee down, and with thee sink “Thy Children left unfit, through vain demand “Of culture, even to feel or understand “My simplest Lay that to their memory “May cling;—hard fate! which haply need not be “Did Justice mould the Statutes of the Land. “A Book time-cherished and an honoured name “Are high rewards; but bound they nature’s claim “Or Reasons? No—hopes spun in timid line “From out the bosom of a modest home “Extend through unambitious years to come, “My careless Little-one, for thee and thine!”

May 23rd.

“Come gentle Sleep, Death’s image tho’ thou art” Come gentle Sleep, Death’s image tho’ thou art Come share my couch nor speedily depart How sweet thus living without life to lie Thus without death how sweet it is to die. [Two Translations from Michael Angelo] i. “Grateful is Sleep; more grateful still to be” Grateful is Sleep; more grateful still to be Of marble; for while Shameless wrong and woe Prevail ’tis best to neither hear nor see: Then, wake me not, I pray you. Hush, speak low.

  Sequel to A Plea for Authors. May, 1838.   From the Latin of Thomas Warton.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 737 ii. Michael Angelo in reply to the passage upon his statue of Night sleeping Night speaks. Grateful is Sleep, my life in stone bound fast More grateful still: while wrong and shame shall last On me can time no happier state bestow Than to be left unconscious of the woe Ah then lest you awaken me, speak low.

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With a Small Present A prized memorial this slight work may prove As bought in Charity and given in Love. “A sad and lovely face, with upturn’d eyes” A sad and lovely face, with upturn’d eyes, Tearless, yet full of grief.—How heavenly fair How saintlike is the look those features wear! Such sorrow is more lovely in its guise Than joy itself—for underneath it lies A calmness that betokens strength to bear Earth’s petty grievances—its toil and care:— A spirit that can look through clouded skies, And see the blue beyond.—Type of that grace That lit Her holy features, from whose womb Issued the blest Redeemer of our race— How little dost thou speak of earthly gloom! As little as the unblemish’d Queen of Night, When envious clouds shut out her silver light.

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“Lo! where she stands fixed in a saint-like trance” Lo! where she stands fixed in a saint-like trance, One upward hand, as if she needed rest From rapture, lying softly on her breast! Nor wants her eyeball an ethereal glance; But not the less—nay more—that countenance, While thus illumined, tells of painful strife For a sick heart made weary of this life By love, long crossed with adverse circumstance.

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738â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth —Would she were now as when she hoped to pass At God’s appointed hour to them who tread Heaven’s sapphire pavement, yet breathed well content, Well pleased, her foot should print earth’s common grass, Lived thankful for day’s light, for daily bread, For health, and time in obvious duty spent.

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To a Painterâ•› All praise the Likeness by thy skill portrayed; But ’tis a fruitless task to paint for me, Who, yielding not to changes Time has made, By the habitual light of memory see Eyes unbedimmed, see bloom that cannot fade, And smiles that from their birth-place ne’er shall flee Into the land where ghosts and phantoms be; And, seeing this, own nothing in its stead. Couldst thou go back into far-distant years, Or share with me, fond thought! that inward eye, Then, and then only, Painter! could thy Art The visual powers of Nature satisfy, Which hold, whate’er to common sight appears, Their sovereign empire in a faithful heart.

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On the same Subject Though I beheld at first with blank surprise This Work, I now have gazed on it so long I see its truth with unreluctant eyes; O, my Belovèd! I have done thee wrong, Conscious of blessedness, but, whence it sprung, Ever too heedless, as I now perceive: Morn into noon did pass, noon into eve, And the old day was welcome as the young, As welcome, and as beautiful—in sooth More beautiful, as being a thing more holy: Thanks to thy virtues, to the eternal youth Of all thy goodness, never melancholy; To thy large heart and humble mind, that cast

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  WW wrote this and the following sonnet on seeing the portrait of Mary Wordsworth painted by the miniature portrait painter, Margaret Gillies (1803–1887).

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 739 Into one vision, future, present, past. [Four Poems on a Portrait] “More may not be by human Art exprest” More may not be by human Art exprest But Love, far mightier Power, can add the rest, Add to the picture which those lines present All that is wanting for my heart’s content: The braided hair a majesty displays Of brow that thinks and muses while I gaze, And O what meekness in those lips that share A seeming intercourse with vital air, Such faint sweet sign of life as Nature shows A sleeping infant or the breathing rose; And in that eye where others gladly see Earth’s purest light Heaven opens upon me.

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“Art, Nature, Love here claim united praise” Art, Nature, Love here claim united praise. The forehead thinks—it muses while I gaze, And the light breaking from the eyes to me For hearts content is all it seems to be, O that the lips though motionless might share Some vital intercourse with silent air Such faint sweet sign of life as Nature shows The sleeping infant or the breathing rose.—

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Upon the sight of the Portrait of a female Friend— Upon those lips, those placid lips, I look, Nor grieve that they are still and mute as death, I gaze—I read as in an Angel’s Book, And ask not speech from them, but long for breath. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… Wm Wordsworth— Ambleside, 10th July, 1840

  The following poems on painting arose out of several portraits done by Margaret Gillies during her visit to Rydal Mount in the fall and winter of 1839.

740â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Upon a Portrait We gaze, not sad to think that we must die And part; but that the love this Friend hath sown Within our hearts, the love whose Flower hath blown Bright as if heaven were ever in its eye Shall pass so soon from human memory And not by strangers to our blood alone But by our best descendants be unknown Unthought-of this may surely claim a sigh. But blessed Art! we yield not to dejection Thou against time so feelingly dost strive Where’er preserved in this most true reflection The Image of her Soul is kept alive Some lingering fragrance of the pure affection, Whose flower with us will vanish, must survive.

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“The Star that comes at close of day to shine” The Star that comes at close of day to shine More heavenly bright than when it leads the Morn Is Friendship’s Emblem whether the forlorn She visiteth; or shedding light benign Thro’ shades that solemnize life’s calm decline Doth make the happy happier. This have we Learnt, Isabel! from thy society Which now we too unwillingly resign Tho’ for brief absence. But farewell! The page Glimmers before my sight, thro’ thankful tears, Such as start forth, not seldom to approve Our truth, when we, old yet unchilled by age Call Thee, tho’ known but for a few fleet years The heart-affianced Sister of our love. Poor Robinâ•› Now when the primrose makes a splendid show, And lilies face the March-winds in full blow, And humbler growths as moved with one desire Put on, to welcome spring, their best attire,   “The small wild Geranium, known by that name.” WW

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 741 Poor Robin is yet flowerless, but how gay With his red stalks upon this sunny day! And, as his tuft of leaves he spreads, content With a hard bed and scanty nourishment, Mixed with the green some shine, not lacking power To rival summer’s brightest scarlet flower; And flowers they well might seem to passers-by If looked at only with a careless eye; Flowers—or a richer produce (did it suit The season) sprinklings of ripe strawberry fruit. â•… But, while a thousand pleasures come unsought, Why fix upon his want or wealth a thought? Is the string touched in prelude to a lay Of pretty fancies that would round him play When all the world acknowledged elfin sway? Or does it suit our humour to commend Poor Robin as a sure and crafty friend, Whose practice teaches, spite of names to show Bright colours whether they deceive or no?— Nay, we would simply praise the free good-will With which, though slighted, he, on naked hill Or in warm valley, seeks his part to fill; Cheerful alike if bare of flowers as now, Or when his tiny gems shall deck his brow: Yet more, we wish that men by men despised, And such as lift their foreheads overprized, Should sometimes think, where’er they chance to spy This child of Nature’s own humility, What recompense is kept in store or left For all that seem neglected or bereft; With what nice care equivalents are given, How just, how bountiful, the hand of Heaven. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… March, 1840. The Cuckoo-clock Wouldst thou be taught, when sleep has taken flight, By a sure voice that can most sweetly tell, How far-off yet a glimpse of morning light, And if to lure the truant back be well,

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742â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Forbear to covet a Repeater’s stroke, That, answering to thy touch, will sound the hour; Better provide thee with a Cuckoo-clock, For service hung behind thy chamber door; And in due time the soft spontaneous shock, The double note, as if with living power, Will to composure lead—or make thee blithe as bird in bower. List, Cuckoo—Cuckoo!—oft though tempests howl, Or nipping frost remind thee trees are bare, How cattle pine, and droop the shivering fowl, Thy spirits will seem to feed on balmy air; I speak with knowledge,—by that Voice beguiled, Thou wilt salute old memories as they throng Into thy heart; and fancies, running wild Through fresh green fields, and budding groves among, Will make thee happy, happy as a child; Of sunshine wilt thou think, and flowers, and song, And breathe as in a world where nothing can go wrong. And know—that, even for him who shuns the day And nightly tosses on a bed of pain; Whose joys, from all but memory swept away, Must come unhoped for, if they come again; Know—that, for him whose waking thoughts, severe As his distress is sharp, would scorn my theme, The mimic notes, striking upon his ear In sleep, and intermingling with his dream, Could from sad regions send him to a dear Delightful land of verdure, shower and gleam, To mock the wandering Voice beside some haunted stream. O bounty without measure! while the grace Of Heaven doth in such wise, from humblest springs, Pour pleasure forth, and solaces that trace A mazy course along familiar things, Well may our hearts have faith that blessings come, Streaming from founts above the starry sky, With angels when their own untroubled home They leave, and speed on nightly embassy To visit earthly chambers,—and for whom?

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 743 Yea, both for souls who God’s forbearance try, And those that seek his help, and for his mercy sigh. The Norman Boy High on a broad unfertile tract of forest-skirted Down, Nor kept by Nature for herself, nor made by man his own, From home and company remote and every playful joy, Served, tending a few sheep and goats, a ragged Norman Boy. Him never saw I, nor the spot, but from an English Dame, Stranger to me and yet my friend, a simple notice came, With suit that I would speak in verse of that sequestered child Whom, one bleak winter’s day, she met upon the dreary Wild. His flock, along the woodland’s edge with relics sprinkled o’er Of last night’s snow, beneath a sky threatening the fall of more, Where tufts of herbage tempted each, were busy at their feed, And the poor Boy was busier still, with work of anxious heed. There was he, where of branches rent and withered and decayed, For covert from the keen north wind, his hands a hut had made. A tiny tenement, forsooth, and frail, as needs must be A thing of such materials framed, by a builder such as he. The hut stood finished by his pains, nor seemingly lacked aught That skill or means of his could add, but the architect had wrought Some limber twigs into a Cross, well-shaped with fingers nice, To be engrafted on the top of his small edifice.

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That Cross he now was fastening there, as the surest power and best For supplying all deficiencies, all wants of the rude nest In which, from burning heat, or tempest driving far and wide, The innocent Boy, else shelterless, his lonely head must hide. That Cross belike he also raised as a standard for the true And faithful service of his heart in the worst that might ensue Of hardship and distressful fear, amid the houseless waste Where he, in his poor self so weak, by Providence was placed. — Here, Lady! might I cease; but nay, let us before we part With this dear holy Shepherd-boy breathe a prayer of earnest heart, That unto him, where’er shall lie his life’s appointed way, The Cross, fixed in his soul, may prove an all-sufficing stay.

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744â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sequel to the Norman Boy Just as those final words were penned, the sun broke out in power, And gladdened all things; but, as chanced, within that very hour, Air blackened, thunder growled, fire flashed from clouds that hid the sky, And, for the Subject of my Verse, I heaved a pensive sigh. Nor could my heart by second thoughts from heaviness be cleared, For bodied forth before my eyes the cross-crowned hut appeared; And, while around it storm as fierce seemed troubling earth and air, I saw, within, the Norman Boy kneeling alone in prayer. The Child, as if the thunder’s voice spake with articulate call, Bowed meekly in submissive fear, before the Lord of All; His lips were moving; and his eyes, upraised to sue for grace, With soft illumination cheered the dimness of that place.

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How beautiful is holiness!—What wonder if the sight, Almost as vivid as a dream, produced a dream at night! It came with sleep and showed the Boy, no cherub, not transformed, 15 But the poor ragged Thing whose ways my human heart had warmed. Me had the dream equipped with wings, so I took him in my arms, And lifted from the grassy floor, stilling his faint alarms, And bore him high through yielding air my debt of love to pay, By giving him, for both our sakes, an hour of holiday.

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I whispered, “Yet a little while, dear Child! thou art my own, To show thee some delightful thing, in country or in town. What shall it be? a mirthful throng, or that holy place and calm St. Denis, filled with royal tombs, or the Church of Notre Dame? “St. Ouen’s golden Shrine? or choose what else would please thee most 25 Of any wonder Normandy, or all proud France, can boast!” “My Mother,” said the Boy, “was born near to a blessèd Tree, The Chapel Oak of Allonville; good Angel, show it me!” On wings, from broad and steadfast poise let loose by this reply, For Allonville, o’er down and dale, away then did we fly; 30 O’er town and tower we flew, and fields in May’s fresh verdure drest; The wings they did not flag; the Child, though grave, was not deprest. But who shall show, to waking sense, the gleam of light that broke Forth from his eyes, when first the Boy looked down on that huge oak, For length of days so much revered, so famous where it stands 35

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 745 For twofold hallowing—Nature’s care, and work of human hands? Strong as an Eagle with my charge I glided round and round The wide-spread boughs, for view of door, window, and stair that wound Gracefully up the gnarled trunk; nor left we unsurveyed The pointed steeple peering forth from the centre of the shade. 40 I lighted—opened with soft touch a grated iron door, Past softly, leading in the Boy; and, while from roof to floor From floor to roof all round his eyes the wondering creature cast, Pleasure on pleasure crowded in, each livelier than the last. 45 For, deftly framed with the trunk, a sanctuary showed, By light of lamp and precious stones, that glimmered here, there glowed, Shrine, Altar, Image, Offerings hung in sign of gratitude; And swift as lightning went the time, ere speech I thus renewed:

“Hither the Afflicted come, as thou hast heard thy Mother say, And, kneeling, supplication make to our Lady de la Paix; 50 What mournful sighs have here been heard, and, when the voice was stopt By sudden pangs, what bitter tears have on this pavement dropt! “Poor Shepherd of the naked Down, a favoured lot is thine, Far happier lot, dear Boy, than brings full many to this shrine; From body pains and pains of soul thou needest no release, Thy hours as they flow on are spent, if not in joy, in peace. “Then offer up thy heart to God in thankfulness and praise, Give to Him prayers, and many thoughts, in thy most busy days; And in His sight the fragile Cross, on thy small hut, will be Holy as that which long hath crowned the Chapel of this Tree;

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“Holy as that far seen which crowns the sumptuous Church in Rome Where thousands meet to worship God under a mighty Dome; He sees the bending multitude, he hears the choral rites, Yet not the less, in children’s hymns and lonely prayer, delights. “God for his service needeth not proud work of human skill; They please him best who labour most to do in peace his will: So let us strive to live, and to our Spirits will be given Such wings as, when our Saviour calls, shall bear us up to heaven.” The Boy no answer made by words, but, so earnest was his look, Sleep fled, and with it fled the dream—recorded in this book, Lest all that passed should melt away in silence from my mind,

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746â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth As visions still more bright have done, and left no trace behind. And though the dream, to thee, poor Boy! to thee from whom it flowed, Was nothing, nor e’er can be aught, ’twas bounteously bestowed, 75 If I may dare to cherish hope that gentle eyes will read Not loth, and listening Little-ones, heart-touched, their fancies feed. At Furness Abbey Here, where, of havoc tired and rash undoing, Man left this Structure to become Time’s prey A soothing spirit follows in the way That Nature takes, her counter-work pursuing. See how her Ivy clasps the sacred Ruin Fall to prevent or beautify decay; And, on the mouldered walls, how bright, how gay, The flowers in pearly dews their bloom renewing! Thanks to the place, blessings upon the hour; Even as I speak the rising Sun’s first smile Gleams on the grass-crowned top of yon tall Tower Whose cawing occupants with joy proclaim Prescriptive title to the shattered pile Where, Cavendish, thine seems nothing but a name!

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On a Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, upon the Field of Waterloo, by Haydonâ•› By Art’s bold privilege Warrior and War-horse stand On ground yet strewn with their last battle’s wreck; Let the Steed glory while his Master’s hand Lies fixed for ages on his conscious neck; But by the Chieftain’s look, though at his side Hangs that day’s treasured sword, how firm a check Is given to triumph and all human pride! Yon trophied Mound shrinks to a shadowy speck In his calm presence! Him the mighty deed Elates not, brought far nearer the grave’s rest, As shows that time-worn face, for he such seed Has sown as yields, we trust, the fruit of fame In Heaven; hence no one blushes for thy name,   Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786–1846) specialized in large historical paintings in oil.

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 747 Conqueror, ’mid some sad thoughts, divinely blest! “Sigh no more Ladies, sigh no more” Sigh no more Ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever! So says the old Ballad but Fair Ladies believe it never! “The Crescent-moon, the Star of Love” The Crescent-moon, the Star of Love, Glories of evening, as ye there are seen With but a span of sky between— Speak one of you, my doubts remove, Which is the attendant Page and which the Queen? “Let more ambitious Poets take the heart” Let more ambitious Poets take the heart By storm, my verse would rather win its way With gentle violence into minds well-pleased To give it welcome with a prompt return Of their own sweetness, as March-flowers that shrink From the sharp wind do readily yield up Their choicest fragrance to a southern breeze Ruffling their bosoms with its genial breath.

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Epitaph in the Chapel-yard of Langdale, Westmoreland By playful smiles, (alas too oft A sad heart’s sunshine) by a soft And gentle nature, and a free Yet modest hand of charity, Through life was Owen Lloyd endeared To young and old; and how revered Had been that pious spirit, a tide Of humble mourners testified, When, after pains dispensed to prove The measure of God’s chastening love, Here, brought from far, his corse found rest,— Fulfilment of his own request;— Urged less for this Yew’s shade, though he

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748â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Planted with such fond hope the tree; Less for the love of stream and rock, Dear as they were, than that his Flock, When they no more their Pastor’s voice Could hear to guide them in their choice Through good and evil, help might have, Admonished, from his silent grave, Of righteousness, of sins forgiven, For peace on earth and bliss in heaven.

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“Though Pulpits and the Desk may fail” Though Pulpits and the Desk may fail To reach the hearts of worldly men; Yet may the grace of God prevail And touch them through the Poet’s pen. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… Wm. Wordsworth Bath, April 28th, 1841 The Wishing-gate Destroyed ’Tis gone—with old belief and dream That round it clung, and tempting scheme Released from fear and doubt; And the bright landscape too must lie, By this blank wall, from every eye, Relentlessly shut out. Bear witness ye who seldom passed That opening—but a look ye cast Upon the lake below, What spirit-stirring power it gained From faith which here was entertained, Though reason might say no. Blest is that ground, where, o’er the springs Of history, glory claps her wings, Fame sheds the exulting tear; Yet earth is wide, and many a nook

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  “See ‘The Wishing-Gate.’ Having been told, upon what I thought good authority, that this gate had been destroyed, and the opening where it hung walled up, I gave vent immediately to my feelings in these stanzas. But going to the place some time after I found, with much delight, my old favourite unmolested.” WW’s earlier poem is included above.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 749 Unheard of is, like this, a book For modest meanings dear. It was in sooth a happy thought That grafted, on so fair a spot, So confident a token Of coming good;—the charm is fled; Indulgent centuries spun a thread, Which one harsh day has broken. Alas! for him who gave the word; Could he no sympathy afford, Derived from earth or heaven, To hearts so oft by hope betrayed; Their very wishes wanted aid Which here was freely given? Where, for the love-lorn maiden’s wound, Will now so readily be found A balm of expectation? Anxious for far-off children, where Shall mothers breathe a like sweet air Of home-felt consolation? And not unfelt will prove the loss ’Mid trivial care and petty cross And each day’s shallow grief; Though the most easily beguiled Were oft among the first that smiled At their own fond belief. If still the reckless change we mourn, A reconciling thought may turn To harm that might lurk here, Ere judgment prompted from within Fit aims, with courage to begin, And strength to persevere. Not Fortune’s slave is man: our state Enjoins, while firm resolves await On wishes just and wise, That strenuous action follow both, And life be one perpetual growth

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750â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth

Of heaven-ward enterprise.

So taught, so trained, we boldly face All accidents of time and place; Whatever props may fail, Trust in that sovereign law can spread New glory o’er the mountain’s head, Fresh beauty through the vale. That truth informing mind and heart, The simplest cottager may part, Ungrieved, with charm and spell; And yet, lost Wishing-gate, to thee The voice of grateful memory Shall bid a kind farewell!

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Sonnet Though the bold wings of Poesy affect The clouds and wheel around the mountain tops Rejoicing, from her loftiest height she drops Well pleased to skim the plain with wild flowers deckt, Or muse in solemn grove whose shades protect The lingering dew—there steals along, or stops Watching the least small bird that round her hops, Or creeping worm, with sensitive respect. Her functions are they therefore less divine, Her thoughts less deep, or void of grave intent Her simplest fancies? Should that fear be thine, Aspiring Votary, ere thy hand present One offering, kneel before her modest shrine, With brow in penitential sorrow bent!

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Suggested by a Picture of the Bird of Paradise The gentlest Poet, with free thoughts endowed, And a true master of the glowing strain, Might scan the narrow province with disdain That to the Painter’s skill is here allowed. This, this the Bird of Paradise! disclaim The daring thought, forget the name; This the Sun’s Bird, whom Glendoveers might own

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 751 As no unworthy Partner in their flight Through seas of ether, where the ruffling sway Of nether air’s rude billows is unknown; Whom Sylphs, if e’er for casual pastime they Through India’s spicy regions wing their way, Might bow to as their Lord. What character, O sovereign Nature! I appeal to thee, Of all thy feathered progeny Is so unearthly, and what shape so fair? So richly decked in variegated down, Green, sable, shining yellow, shadowy brown, Tints softly with each other blended, Hues doubtfully begun and ended; Or intershooting, and to sight Lost and recovered, as the rays of light Glance on the conscious plumes touched here and there? Full surely, when with such proud gifts of life Began the pencil’s strife, O’erweening Art was caught as in a snare. A sense of seemingly presumptuous wrong Gave the first impulse to the Poet’s song; But, of his scorn repenting soon, he drew A juster judgment from a calmer view; And, with a spirit freed from discontent, Thankfully took an effort that was meant Not with God’s bounty, Nature’s love, to vie, Or made with hope to please that inward eye Which ever strives in vain itself to satisfy, But to recal the truth by some faint trace Of power ethereal and celestial grace, That in the living Creature find on earth a place.

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“Lyre! though such power do in thy magic live” Lyre! though such power do in thy magic live As might from India’s farthest plain Recal the not unwilling Maid, Assist me to detain The lovely Fugitive: Check with thy notes the impulse which, betrayed

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752â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth By her sweet farewell looks, I longed to aid. Here let me gaze enrapt upon that eye, The impregnable and awe-inspiring fort Of contemplation, the calm port By reason fenced from winds that sigh Among the restless sails of vanity. But if no wish be hers that we should part, A humbler bliss would satisfy my heart. Where all things are so fair, Enough by her dear side to breathe the air Of this Elysian weather; And, on or in, or near, the brook, espy Shade upon the sunshine lying Faint and somewhat pensively; And downward Image gaily vying With its upright living tree Mid silver clouds, and openings of blue sky As soft almost and deep as her cerulean eye. Nor less the joy with many a glance Cast up the Stream or down at her beseeching, To mark its eddying foam-balls prettily distrest By ever-changing shape and want of rest; Or watch, with mutual teaching, The current as it plays In flashing leaps and stealthy creeps Adown a rocky maze; Or note (translucent summer’s happiest chance!) In the slope-channel floored with pebbles bright, Stones of all hues, gem emulous of gem, So vivid that they take from keenest sight The liquid veil that seeks not to hide them.

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Preludeâ•› In desultory walk through orchard grounds, Or some deep chestnut grove, oft have I paused The while a Thrush, urged rather than restrained By gusts of vernal storm, attuned his song To his own genial instincts; and was heard   The poem served as a prelude to WW’s Poems Chiefly of Early and Late Years (1842).

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 753 (Though not without some plaintive tones between) To utter, above showers of blossom swept From tossing boughs, the promise of a calm, Which the unsheltered traveller might receive With thankful spirit. The descant, and the wind That seemed to play with it in love or scorn, Encouraged and endeared the strain of words That haply flowed from me, by fits of silence Impelled to livelier pace. But now, my Book! Charged with those lays, and others of like mood, Or loftier pitch if higher rose the theme, Go, single—yet aspiring to be joined With thy Forerunners that through many a year Have faithfully prepared each other’s way— Go forth upon a mission best fulfilled When and wherever, in this changeful world, Power hath been given to please for higher ends Than pleasure only; gladdening to prepare For wholesome sadness, troubling to refine, Calming to raise; and, by a sapient Art Diffused through all the mysteries of our Being, Softening the toils and pains that have not ceased To cast their shadows on our mother Earth Since the primeval doom. Such is the grace Which, though unsued for, fails not to descend With heavenly inspiration; such the aim That Reason dictates; and, as even the wish Has virtue in it, why should hope to me Be wanting that sometimes, where fancied ills Harass the mind and strip from off the bowers Of private life their natural pleasantness, A Voice devoted to the love whose seeds Are sown in every human breast, to beauty Lodged within compass of the humblest sight, To cheerful intercourse with wood and field, And sympathy with man’s substantial griefs— Will not be heard in vain? And in those days When unforeseen distress spreads far and wide Among a People mournfully cast down,

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754â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Or into anger roused by venal words In recklessness flung out to overturn The judgment, and divert the general heart From mutual good—some strain of thine, my Book! Caught at propitious intervals, may win Listeners who not unwillingly admit Kindly emotion tending to console And reconcile; and both with young and old Exalt the sense of thoughtful gratitude For benefits that still survive, by faith In progress, under laws divine, maintained.

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Rydal Mount, March 26, 1842

Upon Perusing the Foregoing Epistle Thirty Years after its Compositionâ•› Soon did the Almighty Giver of all rest Take those dear young Ones to a fearless nest; And in Death’s arms has long reposed the Friend For whom this simple Register was penned. Thanks to the moth that spared it for our eyes; And Strangers even the slighted Scroll may prize, Moved by the touch of kindred sympathies. For—save the calm, repentance sheds o’er strife Raised by remembrances of misused life, The light from past endeavours purely willed And by Heaven’s favour happily fulfilled; Save hope that we, yet bound to Earth, may share The joys of the Departed—what so fair As blameless pleasure, not without some tears, Reviewed through Love’s transparent veil of years?

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Sonnet When Severn’s sweeping Flood had overthrown St Mary’s Church the Preacher then would cry, “Thus, Christian People God his might hath shown That Ye to Him your love may testify; Haste, and rebuild the Pile”! But not a stone Resumed its place. Age after Age went by

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  Title and poem refer to Epistle to Sir George Beaumont, Bart. From the South-west Coast of Cumberland. See the latter poem, above.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 755 And Heaven still lacked its due; though Piety In secret did, we trust, her loss bemoan. But now her spirit has put forth its claim In power, and Poesy would lend her voice Let the new Work be worthy of its aim, That in its beauty Cardiff may rejoice! Oh, in the Past if cause there was for shame Let not our Times halt in their better choice!

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Wm Wordsworth Rydal Mount, 23d Janry 1842

“A Poet!—He hath put his heart to school” A Poet!—He hath put his heart to school, Nor dares to move unpropped upon the staff Which Art hath lodged within his hand—must laugh By precept only, and shed tears by rule. Thy Art be Nature; the live current quaff, And let the groveller sip his stagnant pool, In fear that else, when Critics grave and cool Have killed him, Scorn should write his epitaph. How does the Meadow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free Down to its root, and, in that freedom, bold; And so the grandeur of the Forest-tree Comes not by casting in a formal mould, But from its own divine vitality.

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To a Redbreast—(In Sickness) Stay, little cheerful Robin! stay, â•… And at my casement sing, Though it should prove a farewell lay â•… And this our parting spring. Though I, alas! may ne’er enjoy â•… The promise in thy song; A charm, that thought can not destroy, â•… Doth to thy strain belong. Methinks that in my dying hour â•… Thy song would still be dear,

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756â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And with a more than earthly power â•… My passing Spirit cheer. Then, little Bird, this boon confer, â•… Come, and my requiem sing, Nor fail to be the harbinger â•… Of everlasting Spring. â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… S. H.

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“The most alluring clouds that mount the sky” The most alluring clouds that mount the sky Owe to a troubled element their forms, Their hues to sunset. If with raptured eye We watch their splendor, shall we covet storms, And wish the Lord of day his slow decline Would hasten, that such pomp may float on high? Behold, already they forget to shine, Dissolve—and leave to him who gazed a sigh. Not loth to thank each moment for its boon Of pure delight, come whencesoe’er it may, Peace let us seek,—to stedfast things attune Calm expectations, leaving to the gay And volatile their love of transient bowers, The house that cannot pass away be ours.

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“Intent on gathering wool from hedge and brake” Intent on gathering wool from hedge and brake Yon busy Little-ones rejoice that soon A poor old Dame will bless them for the boon: Great is their glee while flake they add to flake With rival earnestness; far other strife Than will hereafter move them, if they make Pastime their idol, give their day of life To pleasure snatched for reckless pleasure’s sake. Can pomp and show allay one heart-born grief? Pains which the World inflicts can she requite? Not for an interval however brief;

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  “S. H.” is WW’s sister-in-law Sara Hutchinson. He included it in his publications in 1842 and from 1845, and acknowledged his authorship of the second stanza, ll. 5–12.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 757 The silent thoughts that search for stedfast light, Love from on high, and Duty in her might, And Faith—these only yield secure relief. March 8th, 1842. The Eagle and the Dove Shade of Caractacus, if Spirits love The cause they fought for in their earthly home, To see the Eagle ruffled by the Dove May soothe thy memory of the chains of Rome. These children claim thee for their Sire; the breath Of thy renown, from Cambrian mountains, fans A flame within them that despises death, And glorifies the truant Youth of Vannes. With thy own scorn of tyrants they advance, But truth divine has sanctified their rage, A silver Cross enchased with Flowers of France, Their badge, attests the holy fight they wage. The shrill defiance of the young Crusade Their veteran foes mock as an idle noise But unto Faith and Loyalty comes aid From Heaven—gigantic force to beardless Boys.

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“What heavenly smiles! O Lady mine” What heavenly smiles! O Lady mine Through my very heart they shine; And, if my brow gives back their light, Do thou look gladly on the sight; As the clear Moon with modest pride â•… Beholds her own bright beams Reflected from the mountain’s side â•… And from the headlong streams. “Wansfell! this Household has a favoured lot” Wansfell!this Household has a favoured lot, Living with liberty on thee to gaze, To watch while Morn first crowns thee with her rays,   “The Hill that rises to the south-east, above Ambleside.” WW

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758â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Or when along thy breast serenely float Evening’s angelic clouds. Yet ne’er a note Hath sounded (shame upon the Bard!) thy praise For all that thou, as if from heaven, hast brought Of glory lavished on our quiet days. Bountiful Son of Earth! when we are gone From every object dear to mortal sight, As soon we shall be, may these words attest How oft, to elevate our spirits, shone Thy visionary majesties of light, How in thy pensive glooms our hearts found rest.

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Dec. 24, 1842.

“Glad sight wherever new with old” Glad sight wherever new with old Is joined through some dear homeborn tie; The life of all that we behold Depends upon that mystery. Vain is the glory of the sky, The beauty vain of field and grove Unless, while with admiring eye We gaze, we also learn to love.

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To a Lady, in answer to a request that

I would write her a poem

upon some drawings that she had made of flowers in the island of madeira

Fair Lady! can I sing of flowers â•… That in Madeira bloom and fade, I who ne’er sate within their bowers, â•… Nor through their sunny lawns have strayed? How they in sprightly dance are worn â•… By Shepherd-groom or May-day queen, Or holy festal pomps adorn, â•… These eyes have never seen. Yet tho’ to me the pencil’s art â•… No like remembrances can give, Your portraits still may reach the heart

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 759 â•… And there for gentle pleasure live; While Fancy ranging with free scope â•… Shall on some lovely Alien set A name with us endeared to hope, To peace, or fond regret. Still as we look with nicer care, â•… Some new resemblance we may trace: A Heart’s-ease will perhaps be there, â•… A Speedwell may not want its place. And so may we, with charmèd mind â•… Beholding what your skill has wrought, Another Star-of-Bethlehem find, â•… A new Forget-me-not. From earth to heaven with motion fleet â•… From heaven to earth our thoughts will pass, A Holy-thistle here we meet â•… And there a Shepherd’s weather-glass; And haply some familiar name â•… Shall grace the fairest, sweetest, plant Whose presence cheers the drooping frame â•… Of English Emigrant. Gazing she feels its power beguile â•… Sad thoughts, and breathes with easier breath; Alas! that meek that tender smile â•… Is but a harbinger of death: And pointing with a feeble hand â•… She says, in faint words by sighs broken, Bear for me to my native land â•… This precious Flower, true love’s last token.

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“While beams of orient light shoot wide and high” While beams of orient light shoot wide and high, Deep in the vale a little rural Town Breathes forth a cloud-like creature of its own, That mounts not toward the radiant morning sky, But, with a less ambitious sympathy,   “Ambleside.” WW

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760â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Hangs o’er its Parent waking to the cares Troubles and toils that every day prepares. So Fancy, to the musing Poet’s eye, Endears that Lingerer. And how blest her sway (Like influence never may my soul reject) If the calm Heaven, now to its zenith decked With glorious forms in numberless array, To the lone shepherd on the hills disclose Gleams from a world in which the saints repose.

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Jan 1, 1843.

Grace Darling Among the dwellers in the silent fields The natural heart is touched, and public way And crowded street resound with ballad strains, Inspired by one whose very name bespeaks Favour divine, exalting human love; Whom, since her birth on bleak Northumbria’s coast, Known unto few but prized as far as known, A single Act endears to high and low Through the whole land—to Manhood, moved in spite Of the world’s freezing cares—to generous Youth— To Infancy, that lisps her praise—to Age Whose eye reflects it, glistening through a tear Of tremulous admiration. Such true fame Awaits her now; but, verily, good deeds Do no imperishable record find Save in the rolls of heaven, where hers may live A theme for angels, when they celebrate The high-souled virtues which forgetful earth Has witness’d. Oh! that winds and waves could speak Of things which their united power called forth From the pure depths of her humanity! A Maiden gentle, yet, at duty’s call, Firm and unflinching, as the Lighthouse reared On the Island-rock, her lonely dwelling-place; Or like the invincible Rock itself that braves,

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  The poem is closely based on accounts of the event September 7, 1838, that appeared in the newspapers of the day.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 761 Age after age, the hostile elements, As when it guarded holy Cuthbert’s cell. â•… All night the storm had raged, nor ceased, nor paused, When, as day broke, the Maid, through misty air, Espies far off a Wreck, amid the surf, Beating on one of those disastrous isles— Half of a Vessel, half—no more; the rest Had vanished, swallowed up with all that there Had for the common safety striven in vain, Or thither thronged for refuge. With quick glance Daughter and Sire through optic-glass discern, Clinging about the remnant of this Ship, Creatures—how precious in the Maiden’s sight! For whom, belike, the old Man grieves still more Than for their fellow-sufferers engulfed Where every parting agony is hushed, And hope and fear mix not in further strife. “But courage, Father! let us out to sea— A few may yet be saved.” The Daughter’s words, Her earnest tone, and look beaming with faith, Dispel the Father’s doubts: nor do they lack The noble-minded Mother’s helping hand To launch the boat; and with her blessing cheered, And inwardly sustained by silent prayer, Together they put forth, Father and Child! Each grasps an oar, and struggling on they go— Rivals in effort; and, alike intent Here to elude and there surmount, they watch The billows lengthening, mutually crossed And shattered, and re-gathering their might; As if the tumult, by the Almighty’s will Were, in the conscious sea, roused and prolonged That woman’s fortitude—so tried, so proved— May brighten more and more! True to the mark, They stem the current of that perilous gorge, Their arms still strengthening with the strengthening heart, Though danger, as the Wreck is near’d, becomes

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762â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth More imminent. Not unseen do they approach; And rapture, with varieties of fear Incessantly conflicting, thrills the frames Of those who, in that dauntless energy, Foretaste deliverance; but the least perturbed Can scarcely trust his eyes, when he perceives That of the pair—tossed on the waves to bring Hope to the hopeless, to the dying, life— One is a Woman, a poor earthly sister, Or, be the Visitant other than she seems, A guardian Spirit sent from pitying Heaven, In woman’s shape. But why prolong the tale, Casting weak words amid a host of thoughts Armed to repel them? Every hazard faced And difficulty mastered, with resolve That no one breathing should be left to perish, This last remainder of the crew are all Placed in the little boat, then o’er the deep Are safely borne, landed upon the beach, And, in fulfilment of God’s mercy, lodged Within the sheltering Lighthouse.—Shout, ye Waves! Send forth a song of triumph. Waves and Winds, Exult in this deliverance wrought through faith In Him whose Providence your rage hath served! Ye screaming Sea-mews, in the concert join! And would that some immortal Voice—a Voice Fitly attuned to all that gratitude Breathes out from floor or couch, through pallid lips Of the survivors—to the clouds might bear— Blended with praise of that parental love, Beneath whose watchful eye the Maiden grew Pious and pure, modest and yet so brave, Though young so wise, though meek so resolute— Might carry to the clouds and to the stars, Yea, to celestial Choirs, Grace Darling’s name!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 763 Inscription for a monument in crosthwaite church, in the vale of keswick

Ye vales and hills whose beauty hither drew The poet’s steps, and fixed him here, on you, His eyes have closed! And ye, lov’d books, no more Shall Southey feed upon your precious lore, To works that ne’er shall forfeit their renown, Adding immortal labours of his own— Whether he traced historic truth, with zeal For the State’s guidance, or the Church’s weal, Or Fancy, disciplined by studious art, Inform’d his pen, or wisdom of the heart, Or judgments sanctioned in the Patriot’s mind By reverence for the rights of all mankind. Wide were his aims, yet in no human breast Could private feelings meet for holier rest. His joys, his griefs, have vanished like a cloud From Skiddaw’s top; but he to heaven was vowed Through his industrious life, and Christian faith Calmed in his soul the fear of change and death.

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To the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. master of harrow school, after the perusal of his theophilus anglicanus, recently published

Enlightened Teacher, gladly from thy hand Have I received this proof of pains bestowed By Thee to guide thy Pupils on the road That, in our native isle, and every land, The Church, when trusting in divine command And in her Catholic attributes, hath trod: O may these lessons be with profit scanned To thy heart’s wish, thy labour blest by God! So the bright faces of the young and gay Shall look more bright—the happy, happier still; Catch, in the pauses of their keenest play,   Robert Southey died March 21, 1843.   WW’s nephew.

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764â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Motions of thought which elevate the will And, like the Spire that from your classic Hill Points heavenward, indicate the end and way. â•… Rydal Mount, Dec. 11, 1843.

“So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive” So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive, Would that the little Flowers were born to live, Conscious of half the pleasure which they give; That to this mountain-daisy’s self were known The beauty of its star-shaped shadow, thrown On the smooth surface of this naked stone!

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And what if hence a bold desire should mount High as the Sun, that he could take account Of all that issues from his glorious fount! So might he ken how by his sovereign aid These delicate companionships are made; And how he rules the pomp of light and shade; And were the Sister-power that shines by night So privileged, what a countenance of delight Would through the clouds break forth on human sight!

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Fond fancies! wheresoe’er shall turn thine eye On earth, air, ocean, or the starry sky, Converse with Nature in pure sympathy; All vain desires, all lawless wishes quelled, Be Thou to love and praise alike impelled, Whatever boon is granted or withheld.

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Sonnet on the projected kendal and windermere railway

Is then no nook of English ground secure From rash assault? Schemes of retirement sown In youth, and mid the busy world kept pure As when their earliest flowers of hope were blown, Must perish;—how can they this blight endure?

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 765 And must he too the ruthless change bemoan Who scorns a false utilitarian lure Mid his paternal fields at random thrown? Baffle the threat, bright Scene, from Orrest-head Given to the pausing traveller’s rapturous glance: Plead for thy peace, thou beautiful romance Of nature; and, if human hearts be dead, Speak, passing winds; ye torrents, with your strong And constant voice, protest against the wrong.

Rydal Mount, October 12th, 1844.

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William Wordsworth.

“Proud were ye, Mountains, when, in times of old” Proud were ye, Mountains, when, in times of old, Your patriot sons, to stem invasive war, Intrenched your brows; ye gloried in each scar: Now, for your shame, a Power, the Thirst of Gold, That rules o’er Britain like a baneful star, Wills that your peace, your beauty, shall be sold, And clear way made for her triumphal car Through the beloved retreats your arms enfold! Heard ye that Whistle? As her long-linked Train Swept onwards, did the vision cross your view? Yes, ye were startled;—and, in balance true, Weighing the mischief with the promised gain, Mountains, and Vales, and Floods, I call on you To share the passion of a just disdain.

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The Westmoreland Girlâ•› to my grandchildren part i

Seek who will delight in fable   WW described the poem as “truth to the Letter” (WW to Henry Reed, July 31, 1845). Sarah Mackereth, the Grasmere girl whose story the poem tells, died in 1872 and is buried in Broughton in Furness churchyard (F. A. Malleson, Holiday Studies of Wordsworth: By Rivers, Woods, and Alps [London, Paris & Melbourne: Cassell & Company, 1890]; he records Sarah’s retelling of the events from which WW framed his poem in chap. 2, pp. 42–46; the chapter is based on an article that Malleson published in 1873 in the magazine Sunday at Home).

766â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth I shall tell you truth. A Lamb Leapt from this steep bank to follow ’Cross the brook its thoughtless dam. Far and wide on hill and valley Rain had fallen, unceasing rain, And the bleating mother’s Young-one Struggled with the flood in vain: But, as chanced, a Cottage-maiden (Ten years scarcely had she told) Seeing, plunged into the torrent, Clasped the Lamb and kept her hold. Whirled adown the rocky channel, Sinking, rising, on they go, Peace and rest, as seems, before them Only in the lake below. Oh! it was a frightful current Whose fierce wrath the Girl had braved; Clap your hands with joy my Hearers, Shout in triumph, both are saved;

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Saved by courage that with danger Grew, by strength the gift of love, And belike a guardian angel Came with succour from above. part ii

Now, to a maturer Audience, Let me speak of this brave Child Left among her native mountains With wild Nature to run wild. So, unwatched by love maternal, Mother’s care no more her guide, Fared this little bright-eyed Orphan Even while at her father’s side. Spare your blame,—remembrance makes him Loth to rule by strict command;

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 767 Still upon his cheek are living Touches of her infant hand, Dear caresses given in pity, Sympathy that soothed his grief, As the dying mother witnessed To her thankful mind’s relief.

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Time passed on; the Child was happy, Like a Spirit of air she moved, Wayward, yet by all who knew her For her tender heart beloved. Scarcely less than sacred passions, Bred in house, in grove, and field, Link her with the inferior creatures, Urge her powers their rights to shield. Anglers, bent on reckless pastime, Learn how she can feel alike Both for tiny harmless minnow And the fierce and sharp-toothed pike. Merciful protectress, kindling Into anger or disdain; Many a captive hath she rescued, Others saved from lingering pain. Listen yet awhile;—with patience Hear the homely truths I tell, She in Grasmere’s old church-steeple Tolled this day the passing-bell.

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Yes, the wild Girl of the mountains To their echoes gave the sound, Notice punctual as the minute, Warning solemn and profound. She, fulfilling her sire’s office, Rang alone the far-heard knell, Tribute, by her hand, in sorrow, Paid to One who loved her well.

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768â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth When his spirit was departed On that service she went forth; Nor will fail the like to render When his corse is laid in earth. What then wants the Child to temper, In her breast, unruly fire, To control the froward impulse And restrain the vague desire? Easily a pious training And a stedfast outward power Would supplant the weeds and cherish, In their stead, each opening flower.

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Thus the fearless Lamb-deliv’rer, Woman-grown, meek-hearted, sage, May become a blest example For her sex, of every age. Watchful as a wheeling eagle, Constant as a soaring lark, Should the country need a heroine, She might prove our Maid of Arc. Leave that thought; and here be uttered Prayer that Grace divine may raise Her humane courageous spirit Up to heaven, thro’ peaceful ways.

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“Yes! thou art fair, yet be not moved” Yes! thou art fair, yet be not moved â•… To scorn the declaration, That sometimes I in thee have loved ╅╇ My fancy’s own creation. Imagination needs must stir; â•… Dear Maid, this truth believe, Minds that have nothing to confer â•… Find little to perceive. Be pleased that nature made thee fit

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 769 â•… To feed my heart’s devotion, By laws to which all Forms submit â•… In sky, air, earth, and ocean.

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“Forth from a jutting ridge, around whose base” Forth from a jutting ridge, around whose base Winds our deep Vale, two heath-clad Rocks ascend In fellowship, the loftiest of the pair Rising to no ambitious height; yet both, O’er lake and stream, mountain and flowery mead, Unfolding prospects fair as human eyes Ever beheld. Up-led with mutual help, To one or other brow of those twin Peaks Were two adventurous Sisters wont to climb, And took no note of the hour while thence they gazed, The blooming heath their couch, gazed, side by side, In speechless admiration. I, a witness And frequent sharer of their calm delight With thankful heart, to either Eminence Gave the baptismal name each Sister bore. Now are they parted, far as Death’s cold hand Hath power to part the Spirits of those who love As they did love. Ye kindred Pinnacles— That, while the generations of mankind Follow each other to their hiding-place In time’s abyss, are privileged to endure Beautiful in yourselves, and richly graced With like command of beauty—grant your aid For Mary’s humble, Sarah’s silent, claim, That their pure joy in nature may survive From age to age in blended memory.

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At Furness Abbey Well have yon Railway Labourers to this ground Withdrawn for noontide rest. They sit, they walk Among the Ruins, but no idle talk Is heard; to grave demeanour all are bound; And from one voice a Hymn with tuneful sound Hallows once more the long-deserted Quire

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770â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth And thrills the old sepulchral earth, around. Others look up, and with fixed eyes admire That wide-spanned arch, wondering how it was raised, To keep, so high in air, its strength and grace: All seem to feel the spirit of the place, And by the general reverence God is praised: Profane Despoilers, stand ye not reproved, While thus these simple-hearted men are moved!

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â•… June 21st, 1845.

“Why should we weep or mourn, Angelic boy” Why should we weep or mourn, Angelic boy, For such thou wert ere from our sight removed, Holy, and ever dutiful—beloved From day to day with never-ceasing joy, And hopes as dear as could the heart employ In aught to earth pertaining? Death has proved His might, nor less his mercy, as behoved— Death conscious that he only could destroy The bodily frame. That beauty is laid low To moulder in a far-off field of Rome; But Heaven is now, blest Child, thy Spirit’s home: When such divine communion, which we know, Is felt, thy Roman-burial place will be Surely a sweet remembrancer of Thee.

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“I know an aged Man constrained to dwell” I know an aged Man constrained to dwell In a large house of public charity, Where he abides, as in a Prisoner’s cell, With numbers near, alas! no company. When he could creep about, at will, though poor And forced to live on alms, this old Man fed A Redbreast, one that to his cottage door Came not, but in a lane partook his bread. There, at the root of one particular tree, An easy seat this worn-out Labourer found While Robin pecked the crumbs upon his knee

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 771 Laid one by one, or scattered on the ground. Dear intercourse was theirs, day after day; What signs of mutual gladness when they met! Think of their common peace, their simple play, The parting moment and its fond regret. Months passed in love that failed not to fulfil, In spite of season’s change, its own demand, By fluttering pinions here and busy bill; There by caresses from a tremulous hand.

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Thus in the chosen spot a tie so strong Was formed between the solitary pair, That when his fate had housed him mid a throng The Captive shunned all converse proffered there. Wife, children, kindred, they were dead and gone; But, if no evil hap his wishes crossed, One living Stay was left, and on that one Some recompense for all that he had lost. O that the good old Man had power to prove, By message sent through air or visible token, That still he loves the Bird, and still must love; That friendship lasts though fellowship is broken!

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To an Octogenarian Affections lose their objects; Time brings forth No successors; and, lodged in memory, If love exist no longer, it must die,— Wanting accustomed food must pass from earth, Or never hope to reach a second birth. This sad belief, the happiest that is left To thousands, share not Thou; howe’er bereft, Scorned, or neglected, fear not such a dearth. Though poor and destitute of friends thou art, Perhaps the sole survivor of thy race, One to whom Heaven assigns that mournful part The utmost solitude of age to face, Still shall be left some corner of the heart

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772â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Where Love for living Thing can find a place. Written upon a fly leaf in the Copy of the Author’s Poems which was sent to her Majesty Queen Victoria Deign Sovereign Mistress! to accept a Lay No Laureate offering of elaborate Art; But Salutation taking its glad way From deep recesses of a Loyal heart. Queen, Wife, and Mother! may all-judging Heaven Shower with a bounteous hand on Thee and Thine Felicity, that only can be given On Earth to goodness, blest by grace divine. Lady! devoutly honoured and beloved Thro’ every realm confided to thy sway May’st Thou pursue thy course by God approved And He will teach thy People to obey. As Thou art wont thy sovereignty adorn With Woman’s gentleness, yet firm and staid; So shall that earthly Crown thy brows have worn Be changed to one whose glory cannot fade: And now, by duty urged, I lay this Book Before thy Majesty, in humble trust That on its simplest pages Thou wilt look With a benign indulgence, more than just.

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Nor wilt Thou blame an aged Poet’s prayer That issuing hence may steal into thy mind Some solace under weight of Royal care Or grief, the inheritance of Humankind; For know we not that from celestial spheres When Time was young an inspiration came (O were it mine) to hallow saddest tears, And help life onward in its noblest aim.

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â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•…â•… W.W. Rydal Mount, 9th Jany 1846

  The volume is in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle. The poem did not appear in print in WW’s lifetime.

Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 773 “Who but is pleased to watch the moon on high” Who but is pleased to watch the moon on high Travelling where she from time to time enshrouds Her head, and nothing loth her Majesty Renounces, till among the scattered clouds One with its kindling edge declares that soon Will reappear before the uplifted eye A Form as bright, as beautiful a moon, To glide in open prospect through clear sky. Pity that such a promise e’er should prove False in the issue, that yon seeming space Of sky should be in truth the steadfast face Of a cloud flat and dense, through which must move (By transit not unlike man’s frequent doom) The Wanderer lost in more determined gloom!

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“How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high” How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high Her way pursuing among scattered clouds, Where, ever and anon, her head she shrouds Hidden from view in dense obscurity. But look, and to the watchful eye A brightening edge will indicate that soon We shall behold the struggling Moon Break forth,—again to walk the clear blue sky.

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“Where lies the truth? has Man, in wisdom’s creed” Where lies the truth? has Man, in wisdom’s creed, A pitiable doom; for respite brief A care more anxious, or a heavier grief? Is he ungrateful, and doth little heed God’s bounty, soon forgotten; or indeed, Must Man, with labour born, awake to sorrow When Flowers rejoice and Larks with rival speed Spring from their nests to bid the Sun good morrow? They mount for rapture as their songs proclaim Warbled in hearing both of earth and sky; But o’er the contrast wherefore heave a sigh?

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774â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Like these aspirants let us soar—our aim, Through life’s worst trials, whether shocks or snares, A happier, brighter, purer Heaven than theirs. To Lucca Giordano Giordano, verily thy Pencil’s skill Hath here portrayed with Nature’s happiest grace The fair Endymion couched on Latmos-hill; And Dian gazing on the Shepherd’s face In rapture,—yet suspending her embrace, As not unconscious with what power the thrill Of her most timid touch his sleep would chase, And, with his sleep, that beauty calm and still. O may this work have found its last retreat Here in a Mountain-bard’s secure abode, One to whom, yet a School-boy, Cynthia showed A face of love which he in love would greet, Fixed, by her smile, upon some rocky seat; Or lured along where green-wood paths he trod.

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Rydal Mount. 1846.

Illustrated Books and Newspapers Discourse was deemed Man’s noblest attribute, And written words the glory of his hand; Then followed Printing with enlarged command For thought—dominion vast and absolute For spreading truth, and making love expand. Now prose and verse sunk into disrepute Must lacquey a dumb Art that best can suit The taste of this once-intellectual Land. A backward movement surely have we here, For manhood—back to childhood; for the age— Back towards caverned life’s first rude career. Avaunt this vile abuse of pictured page! Must eyes be all in all, the tongue and ear Nothing? Heaven keep us from a lower stage!

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Last Poems (1820–1850)â•… 775 On the Banks of a Rocky Stream Behold an emblem of our human mind Crowded with thoughts that need a settled home, Yet, like to eddying balls of foam Within this whirlpool, they each other chase Round and round, and neither find An outlet nor a resting-place! Stranger, if such disquietude be thine, Fall on thy knees and sue for help divine.

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Ode, Performed in the Senate-house, Cambridge, on the Sixth of July, M.DCCC.XLVII. At the first Commencement after the Installation of His Royal Highness The Prince Albert, Chancellor of the University Installation Ode INTRODUCTION AND CHORUS For thirst of power that Heaven disowns, For temples, towers, and thrones, Too long insulted by the Spoiler’s shock, Indignant Europe cast Her stormy foe at last To reap the whirlwind on a Libyan rock.

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SOLO—Tenor War is passion’s basest game Madly played to win a name; Up starts some tyrant, Earth and Heaven to dare; The servile million bow; But will the lightning glance aside to spare The Despot’s laurelled brow?

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CHORUS

War is mercy, glory, fame, Waged in Freedom’s holy cause; Freedom, such as Man may claim Under God’s restraining laws. Such is Albion’s fame and glory: Let rescued Europe tell the story.

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776â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth RECIT. (Accompanied)—Contralto But, lo, what sudden cloud has darkened all The land as with a funeral pall? The Rose of England suffers blight The flower has drooped, the Isle’s delight, Flower and bud together fall— A Nation’s hopes lie crushed in Claremont’s desolate hall.

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AIR—Soprano Time a chequered mantle wears;— Earth awakes from wintry sleep; Again the Tree a blossom bears,— Cease, Britannia, cease to weep! Hark to the peals on this bright May-morn! They tell that your future Queen is born!

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SOPRANO SOLO AND CHORUS A Guardian Angel fluttered Above the Babe, unseen; One word he softly uttered— It named the future Queen: And a joyful cry through the Island rang, As clear and bold as the trumpet’s clang, As bland as the reed of peace— “Victoria be her name!” For righteous triumphs are the base Whereon Britannia rests her peaceful fame.

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QUARTETT Time, in his mantle’s sunniest fold, Uplifted on his arms the child; And, while the fearless Infant smiled, Her happier destiny foretold:— “Infancy, by Wisdom mild, “Trained to health and artless beauty; “Youth, by Pleasure unbeguiled “From the lore of lofty duty; “Womanhood in pure renown, “Seated on her lineal throne: “Leaves of myrtle in her Crown,

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“Fresh with lustre all their own. “Love, the treasure worth possessing “More than all the world beside, “This shall be her choicest blessing, “Oft to royal hearts denied.”

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RECIT. (Accompanied)—Bass That eve, the Star of Brunswick shone With stedfast ray benign On Gotha’s ducal roof, and on The softly flowing Leine; Nor failed to gild the spires of Bonn, And glittered on the Rhine.— Old Camus too on that prophetic night Was conscious of the ray; And his willows whispered in its light, Not to the Zephyr’s sway, But with a Delphic life, in sight Of this auspicious day:

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CHORUS This day, when Granta hails her chosen Lord, And proud of her award, Confiding in the Star serene Welcomes the Consort of a happy Queen.

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AIR—Contralto Prince, in these Collegiate bowers, Where Science, leagued with holier truth, Guards the sacred heart of youth, Solemn monitors are ours. These reverend aisles, these hallowed towers, Raised by many a hand august, Are haunted by majestic Powers, The memories of the Wise and Just, Who, faithful to a pious trust, Here, in the Founder’s Spirit, sought To mould and stamp the ore of thought In that bold form and impress high That best betoken patriot loyalty.

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778â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Not in vain those Sages taught.— True disciples, good as great, Have pondered here their country’s weal, Weighed the Future by the Past, Learnt how social frames may last, And how a Land may rule its fate By constancy inviolate, Though worlds to their foundations reel, The sport of factious Hate or godless Zeal.

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AIR—Bass Albert, in thy race we cherish A Nation’s strength that will not perish While England’s sceptred Line True to the King of Kings is found; Like that Wise Ancestor of thine Who threw the Saxon shield o’er Luther’s life, When first, above the yells of bigot strife, The trumpet of the Living Word Assumed a voice of deep portentous sound From gladdened Elbe to startled Tiber heard.

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CHORUS What shield more sublime E’er was blazoned or sung? And the Prince whom we greet From its Hero is sprung. Resound, resound the strain That hails him for our own! Again, again, and yet again; For the Church, the State, the Throne!— And that Presence fair and bright, Ever blest wherever seen, Who deigns to grace our festal rite, The pride of the Islands, Victoria the Queen! finis

  “Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.” WW

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â•… 779

Notes Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816 WW printed an Advertisement to the volume titled Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816. With Other Short Pieces, Chiefly Referring to Recent Public Events (1816). The Ode occupies the prime place in the volume. ADVERTISEMENT. It is not to bespeak favour or indulgence, but to guard against misapprehension, that the author presumes to state that the present publication owes its existence to a patriotism, anxious to exert itself in commemorating that course of action, by which Great Britain has, for some time past, distinguished herself above all other countries. Wholly unworthy of touching upon so momentous a subject would that Poet be, before whose eyes the present distresses under which this kingdom labours, could interpose a veil sufficiently thick to hide, or even to obscure, the splendor of this great moral triumph. If the author has given way to exultation, unchecked by these distresses, it might be sufficient to protect him from a charge of insensibility, should he state his own belief that these sufferings will be transitory. On the wisdom of a very large majority of the British nation, rested that generosity which poured out the treasures of this country for the deliverance of Europe: and in the same national wisdom, presiding in time of peace over an energy not inferior to that which has been displayed in war, they confide, who encourage a firm hope, that the cup of our wealth will be gradually replenished. There will, doubtless, be no few ready to indulge in regrets and repinings; and to feed a morbid satisfaction, by aggravating these burthens in imagination, in order that calamity so confidently prophesied, as it has not taken the shape which their sagacity allotted to it, may appear as grievous as possible under another. But the body of the nation will not quarrel with the gain, because it might have been purchased at a less price: and acknowledging in these sufferings, which they feel to have been in a great degree unavoidable, a consecration of their noble efforts, they will vigorously apply themselves to remedy the evil. Nor is it at the expense of rational patriotism, or in disregard of sound philosophy, that the author hath given vent to feelings tending to encourage a martial spirit in the bosoms of his countrymen, at a time when there is a general outcry against the prevalence of these dispositions. The British army, both by its skill and valour in the field, and by the discipline which has rendered it much less formidable than the armies of other powers, to the inhabitants of the several countries where its operations were carried on, has performed services for

780â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth humanity too important and too obvious to allow anyone to recommend, that the language of gratitude and admiration be suppressed, or restrained (whatever be the temper of the public mind) through a scrupulous dread, lest the tribute due to the past, should prove an injurious incentive for the future. Every man, deserving the name of Briton, adds his voice to the chorus which extols the exploits of his countrymen, with a consciousness, at times overpowering the effort, that they transcend all praise.—But this particular sentiment, thus irresistibly excited, is not sufficient. The nation would err grievously, if she suffered the abuse which other states have made of military power, to prevent her from perceiving that no people ever was, or can be, independent, free, or secure, much less great, in any sane application of the word, without martial propensities, and an assiduous cultivation of military virtues. Nor let it be overlooked, that the benefits derivable from these sources, are placed within the reach of Great Britain, under conditions peculiarly favourable. The same insular position which, by rendering territorial incorporation impossible, utterly precludes the desire of conquest under the most seductive shape it can assume, enables her to rely, for her defence against foreign foes, chiefly upon a species of armed force from which her own liberties have nothing to fear. Such are the blessed privileges of her situation; and, by permitting, they invite her to give way to the courageous instincts of human nature, and to strengthen and to refine them by culture. But some have more than insinuated, that a design exists to subvert the civil character of the English people by unconstitutional applications and unnecessary increase of military power. The advisers and abettors of such a design, were it possible that it should exist, would be guilty of the most heinous crime, which, upon this planet, can be committed. The author, trusting that this apprehension arises from the delusive influences of an honourable jealousy, hopes that the martial qualities, which he venerates, will be fostered by adhering to those good old usages which experience has sanctioned; and by availing ourselves of new means of indisputable promise; particularly by applying, in its utmost possible extent, that system of tuition, of which the master-spring is a habit of gradually enlightened subordination;— by imparting knowledge, civil, moral and religious, in such measure that the mind, among all classes of the community, may love, admire, and be prepared and accomplished to defend that country, under whose protection its faculties have been unfolded, and its riches acquired; by just dealing towards all orders of the state, so that no members of it being trampled upon, courage may every where continue to rest immoveably upon its ancient English foundation, personal self-respect;—by adequate rewards, and permanent honours, conferred upon the deserving; by encouraging athletic exercises and manly sports among the peasantry of the country; and by especial care to provide and support sufficient Institutions, in which, during a time of peace, a reasonable proportion

Notesâ•… 781 of the youth of the country may be instructed in military science.—Bent upon instant savings, a member of the House of Commons lately recommended that the Military College should be suppressed as an unnecessary expense; for, said he, “our best officers have been formed in the field.” More unwise advice has rarely been given! Admirable officers, indeed, have been formed in the field, but at how deplorable an expense of the lives of their surrounding brethren in arms, a history of the military operations in Spain, and particularly of the sieges, composed with thorough knowledge, and published without reserve, would irresistibly demonstrate. The author has only to add that he should feel little satisfaction in giving to the world these limited attempts to celebrate the virtues of his country, if he did not encourage a hope that a subject, which it has fallen within his province to treat only in the mass, will by other poets be illustrated in that detail which its importance calls for, and which will allow opportunities to give the merited applause to persons as well as to things. W. WORDSWORTH. Rydal Mount, March 18, 1816.

The River Duddon VI, Flowers 10–11â•… “These two lines are in a great measure taken from ‘The Beauties of Spring, a Juvenile Poem,’ by the Rev. Joseph Sympson, author of ‘The Vision of Alfred,’ &c. He was a native of Cumberland, and was educated in the vale of Grasmere, and at Hawkshead school: his poems are little known, but they contain passages of splendid description; and the versification of his “Vision of Alfred” is harmonious and animated. The present severe season, with its amusements, reminds me of some lines which I will transcribe as a favourable specimen. In describing the motions of the Sylphs, that constitute the strange machinery of his ‘Vision of Alfred,’ he uses the following illustrative simile:— ‘glancing from their plumes A changeful light the azure vault illumes. Less varying hues beneath the Pole adorn The streamy glories of the Boreal morn, That wavering to and fro their radiance shed On Bothnia’s gulph with glassy ice o’erspread, Where the lone native, as he homeward glides, On polish’d sandals o’er the imprisoned tides, And still the balance of his frame preserves, Wheel’d on alternate foot in lengthening curves, Sees at a glance, above him and below,

782â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Two rival heav’ns with equal splendour glow. Sphered in the centre of the world he seems, For all around with soft effulgence gleams; Stars, moons, and meteors ray oppose to ray, And solemn midnight pours the blaze of day.’ He was a man of ardent feeling, and his faculties of mind, particularly his memory, were extraordinary. Brief notices of his life ought to find a place in the History of Westmorland.” WW

The River Duddon XVII Return, XVIII Seathwaite Chapel The Eagle requires a large domain for its support; but several pairs, not many years ago, were constantly resident in this country, building their nests in the steeps of Borrowdale, Wastdale, Ennerdale, and on the eastern side of Helvellyn. Often have I heard anglers speak of the grandeur of their appearance, as they hovered over Red Tarn, in one of the coves of this mountain. The bird frequently returns, but is always destroyed. Not long since one visited Rydal Lake, and remained some hours near its banks; the consternation which it occasioned among the different species of fowl, particularly the herons, was expressed by loud screams. The horse also is naturally afraid of the eagle.—There were several Roman stations among these mountains; the most considerable seems to have been in a meadow at the head of Windermere, established, undoubtedly, as a check over the passes of Kirkstone, Dunmail-raise, and of Hardknot and Wrynose. On the margin of Rydal Lake, a coin of Trajan was discovered very lately.—The Roman Fort here alluded to, called by the country people “Hardknot Castle,” is most impressively situated half way down the hill on the right of the road that descends from Hardknot into Eskdale. It has escaped the notice of most antiquarians, and is but slightly mentioned by Lysons.—The Druidical Circle is about half a mile to the left of the road ascending Stoneside from the vale of Duddon: the country people call it “Sunken Church.” The reader who may have been interested in the foregoing Sonnets, (which together may be considered as a Poem,) will not be displeased to find in this place a prose account of the Duddon, extracted from Green’s comprehensive Guide to the Lakes, lately published. “The road leading from Coniston to Broughton is over high ground, and commands a view of the river Duddon; which at high water is a grand sight, having the beautiful and fertile lands of Lancashire and Cumberland stretching each way from its margin. In this extensive view, the face of nature is displayed in a wonderful variety of hill and dale; wooded grounds and buildings; amongst the latter, Broughton Tower, seated on the crown of a hill, rising elegantly from the valley, is an object of extraordinary interest. Fertility on each side is gradually diminished, and lost in the superior heights of Blackcomb, in Cumberland, and the high lands between

Notesâ•… 783 Kirkby and Ulverstone. “The road from Broughton to Seathwaite is on the banks of the Duddon, and on its Lancashire side it is of various elevations. The river is an amusing companion, one while brawling and tumbling over rocky precipices, until the agitated water becomes again calm by arriving at a smoother and less precipitous bed, but its course is soon again ruffled, and the current thrown into every variety of form which the rocky channel of a river can give to water.” (Vide Green’s Guide to the Lakes, vol.i. pp. 98–100.) After all, the traveller would be most gratified who should approach this beautiful Stream, neither at its source, as is done in the Sonnets, nor from its termination; but from Coniston over Walna Scar; first descending into a little circular valley, a collateral compartment of the long winding vale through which flows the Duddon. This recess, towards the close of September, when the aftergrass of the meadows is still of a fresh green, with the leaves of many of the trees faded, but perhaps none fallen, is truly enchanting. At a point elevated enough to shew the various objects in the valley, and not so high as to diminish their importance, the stranger will instinctively halt. On the fore-ground, a little below the most favourable station, a rude foot-bridge is thrown over the bed of the noisy brook, foaming by the way-side. Russet and craggy hills, of bold and varied outline, surround the level valley which is besprinkled with grey rocks plumed with birch trees. A few home-steads are interspersed in some places, peeping out from among the rocks like hermitages, whose scite has been chosen for the benefit of sunshine as well as shelter; in other instances, the dwelling-house, barn, and byer, compose together a cruciform structure, which, with its embowering trees and the ivy clothing part of the walls and roof, like a fleece, call to mind the remains of an ancient abbey. Time, in most cases, and nature every where, have given a sanctity to the humble works of man, that are scattered over this peaceful retirement. Hence a harmony of tone and colour, a perfection and consummation of beauty, which would have been marred had aim or purpose interfered with the course of convenience, utility, or necessity. This unvitiated region stands in no need of the veil of twilight to soften or disguise its features. As it glistens in the morning sunshine, it would fill the spectator’s heart with gladsomeness. Looking from our chosen station, he would feel an impatience to rove among its pathways, to be greeted by the milk-maid, to wander from house to house, exchanging “good-morrows” as he passed the open doors; but, at evening, when the sun is set, and a pearly light gleams from the western quarter of the sky, with an answering light from the smooth surface of the meadows; when the trees are dusky, but each kind still distinguishable; when the cool air has condensed the blue smoke rising from the cottage-chimneys; when the dark mossy stones seem to sleep in the bed of the foaming Brook; then, he would be unwilling to move forward, not less

784â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth from a reluctance to relinquish what he beholds, than from an apprehension of disturbing, by his approach, the quietness beneath him. Issuing from the plain of this valley, the Brook descends in a rapid torrent, passing by the church-yard of Seathwaite. The traveller is thus conducted at once into the midst of the wild and beautiful scenery which gave occasion to the Sonnets from the 14th to the 20th inclusive. From the point where the Seathwaite Brook joins the Duddon, is a view upwards, into the pass through which the River makes its way into the Plain of Donnerdale. The perpendicular rock on the right bears the ancient British name of The Pen; the one opposite is called Walla-barrow Crag, a name that occurs in several places to designate rocks of the same character. The chaotic aspect of the scene is well marked by the expression of a stranger, who strolled out while dinner was preparing, and, at his return, being asked by his host, “What way he had been wandering?” replied, “As far as it is finished! ” The bed of the Duddon is here strewn with large fragments of rock fallen from aloft; which, as Mr. Green truly says, “are happily adapted to the many-shaped water-falls,” (or rather water-breaks, for none of them are high,) “displayed in the short space of half a mile.” That there is some hazard in frequenting these desolate places, I myself have had proof; for one night an immense mass of rock fell upon the very spot where, with a friend, I had lingered the day before. “The concussion,” says Mr. Green, speaking of the event, (for he also, in the practice of his art, on that day sat exposed for a still longer time to the same peril) “was heard, not without alarm, by the neighbouring shepherds.” But to return to Seathwaite Church-yard: it contains the following inscription. “In memory of the Reverend Robert Walker, who died the 25th of June, 1802, in the 93d year of his age, and 67th of his curacy at Seathwaite. “Also, of Anne his wife, who died the 28th of January, in the 93d year of her age.” In the parish-register of Seathwaite Chapel, is this notice: “Buried, June 28th, the Rev. Robert Walker. He was curate of Seathwaite sixtysix years. He was a man singular for his temperance, industry, and integrity.” This individual is the Pastor alluded to, in the eighteenth Sonnet, as a worthy compeer of the Country Parson of Chaucer, &c. An abstract of his character is given in the author’s poem of The Excursion . . . . WW followed this note with a “Memoir of the Rev. Robert Walker” in the first and all later publications in which The River Duddon appeared. For this material see Sonnet Series and Itinerary Poems, pp. 86–98.

The River Duddon, Conclusion 14â•… “And feel that I am happier than I know.”—Milton. The allusion to the Greek Poet will be obvious to the classical reader. (1820)

Notesâ•… 785 Postscript to The River Duddon A Poet, whose works are not yet known as they deserve to be, thus enters upon his description of the “Ruins of Rome,” “The rising Sun Flames on the ruins in the purer air Towering aloft;” and ends thus, “The setting Sun displays His visible great round, between yon towers, As through two shady cliffs.” Mr. Crowe, in his excellent loco-descriptive Poem, “Lewesdon Hill,” is still more expeditious, finishing the whole on a May-morning, before breakfast. “To-morrow for severer thought, but now To breakfast, and keep festival today.” No one believes, or is desired to believe, that these Poems were actually composed within such limits of time, nor was there any reason why a prose statement should acquaint the Reader with the plain fact, to the disturbance of poetic credibility. But, in the present case, I am compelled to mention, that the above series of Sonnets was the growth of many years;—the one which stands the 14th was the first produced; and others were added upon occasional visits to the Stream, or as recollections of the scenes upon its banks awakened a wish to describe them. In this manner I had proceeded insensibly, without perceiving that I as trespassing upon ground pre-occupied, at least as far as intention went, by Mr. Coleridge; who, more than twenty years ago, used to speak of writing a rural Poem, to be entitled “The Brook,” of which he has given a sketch in a recent publication. But a particular subject cannot, I think, much interfere with a general one; and I have been further kept from encroaching upon any right Mr. C. may still wish to exercise, by the restriction which the frame of the Sonnet imposed upon me, narrowing unavoidably the range of thought, and precluding, though not without its advantages, many graces to which a freer movement of verse would naturally have led. May I not venture, then, to hope, that instead of being a hinderance, by anticipation of any part of the subject, these Sonnets may remind Mr. Coleridge of his own more comprehensive design, and induce him to fulfil it?——There is a sympathy in streams, “one calleth to another;” and, I would gladly believe, that “The Brook” will, ere long, murmur in concert with “The Duddon.” But, asking pardon for this fancy, I need not scruple to say, that those verses must indeed be ill-fated which can enter upon such pleasant walks of nature, without receiving and giving inspiration. The power of waters over the minds of Poets has been acknowledged from the earliest ages;—through the “Flumina amem sylvasque inglorius” of Virgil, down to the sublime apostrophe to the great

786â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth rivers of the earth, by Armstrong, and the simple ejaculation of Burns, (chosen, if I recollect right, by Mr. Coleridge, as a motto for his embryo “Brook”) “The Muse nae Poet ever fand her, Till by himsel’ he learned to wander, Adown some trotting burn’s meander, And na’ think lang.”

Ecclesiastical Sketches (1822) WW printed the “Advertisement” that follows in the first edition of the series. ADVERTISEMENT. During the month of December, 1820, I accompanied a much-loved and honoured Friend in a walk through different parts of his Estate, with a view to fix upon the Site of a New Church which he intended to erect. It was one of the most beautiful mornings of a mild season,—our feelings were in harmony with the cherishing influences of the scene; and, such being our purpose, we were naturally led to look back upon past events with wonder and gratitude, and on the future with hope. Not long afterwards, some of the Sonnets which will be found towards the close of this Series, were produced as a private memorial of that morning’s occupation. The Catholic Question, which was agitated in Parliament about that time, kept my thoughts in the same course; and it struck me, that certain points in the Ecclesiastical History of our Country might advantageously be presented to view in Verse. Accordingly I took up the subject, and what I now offer to the Reader, was the result. When this work was far advanced, I was agreeably surprized to find that my Friend, Mr. Southey, was engaged, with similar views, in writing a concise History of the Church in England. If our Productions, thus unintentionally coinciding, shall be found to illustrate each other, it will prove a high gratification to me, which I am sure my Friend will participate. W. WORDSWORTH. Rydal Mount, January 24th, 1822.

Ecclesiastical Sketchesâ•… II.xxix. Eminent Reformers “â•›‘On foot they went, and took Salisbury in their way, purposely to see the good Bishop, who made Mr. Hooker sit at his own table; which Mr. Hooker boasted of with much joy and gratitude when he saw his mother and friends: and at the Bishop’s parting with him, the Bishop gave him good counsel, and his benediction, but forgot to give him money; which when the Bishop had considered, he sent a Servant in all haste to call Richard back to him, and at Richard’s return, the Bishop said to him, “Richard, I sent for you back to lend you a horse which hath carried me many a mile, and I thank God with much ease,” and presently

Notesâ•… 787 delivered into his hand a walking-staff with which he professed he had travelled through many parts of Germany; and he said, “Richard, I do not give, but lend you my horse; be sure you be honest, and bring my horse back to me at your return this way to Oxford. And I do now give you ten groats to bear your charges to Exeter; and here is ten groats more, which I charge you to deliver to your mother, and tell her, I send her a Bishop’s benediction with it, and beg the continuance of her prayers for me. And if you bring my horse back to me, I will give you ten groats more to carry you on foot to the college; and so God bless you, good Richard.’ See Walton’s Life of Richard Hooker.” WW

II.xxxv. Laud “In this age a word cannot be said in praise of Laud, or even in compassion for his fate, without incurring a charge of bigotry; but, fearless of such imputation, I concur with Hume, ‘that it is sufficient for his vindication to observe that his errors were the most excusable of all those which prevailed during that zealous period.’ A key to the right understanding of those parts of his conduct that brought the most odium upon him in his own time, may be found in the following passage of his speech before the Bar of the House of Peers. ‘Ever since I came in place, I have laboured nothing more, than that the external publick worship of God, so much slighted in divers parts of this kingdom, might be preserved, and that with as much decency and uniformity as might be. For I evidently saw, that the publick neglect of God’s service in the outward face of it, and the nasty lying of many places dedicated to that service, had almost cast a damp upon the true and inward worship of God, which, while we live in the body, needs external helps, and all little enough to keep it in any vigour.’â•›” WW

III.xi. Pastoral Character “Among the benefits arising, as Mr. Coleridge has well observed, from a Church Establishment of endowments corresponding with the wealth of the Country to which it belongs, may be reckoned, as eminently important, the examples of civility and refinement which the Clergy, stationed at intervals, afford to the whole people. The established Clergy in many parts of England have long been, as they continue to be, the principal bulwark against barbarism, and the link which unites the sequestered Peasantry with the intellectual advancement of the age. Nor is it below the dignity of the subject to observe that their Taste, as acting upon rural Residences and scenery, often furnishes models which Country Gentlemen, who are more at liberty to follow the caprices of Fashion, might profit by. The precincts of an old residence must be treated by Ecclesiastics with respect, both from prudence and necessity. I remember being much pleased, some years ago, at Rose Castle, the rural Seat

788â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth of the See of Carlisle, with a style of Garden and Architecture, which, if the Place had belonged to a wealthy Layman, would no doubt have been swept away. A Parsonage-house generally stands not far from the Church; this proximity imposes favourable restraints, and sometimes suggests an affecting union of the accommodations and elegancies of life with the outward signs of piety and mortality. With pleasure I recall to mind a happy instance of this in the Residence of an old and much-valued Friend in Oxfordshire. The House and Church stand parallel to each other, at a small distance; a circular lawn, or rather grass-plot, spreads between them; shrubs and trees curve from each side of the Dwelling, veiling, but not hiding the Church. From the front of this Dwelling, no part of the Burial-ground is seen; but, as you wind by the side of the Shrubs towards the Steeple end of the Church, the eye catches a single, small, low, monumental head-stone, moss-grown, sinking into, and gently inclining towards, the earth. Advance, and the Church-yard, populous and gay with glittering Tombstones, opens upon the view. This humble, and beautiful Parsonage called forth a tribute which will not be out of its place here. Where holy ground begins—unhallowed ends, Is marked by no distinguishable line; The turf unites—the pathways intertwine; And, wheresoe’er the stealing footstep tends, Garden, and that Domain where Kindred, Friends, And Neighbours rest together, here confound Their several features—mingled like the sound Of many waters, or as evening blends With shady night. Soft airs, from shrub and flower, Waft fragrant greetings to each silent grave; Meanwhile between those Poplars, as they wave Their lofty summits, comes and goes a sky Bright as the glimpses of Eternity, To Saints accorded in their mortal hour.” WW

Latimer and Ridley “â•›‘M. Latimer very quietly suffered his keeper to pull off his hose, and his other aray, which to looke unto was very simple: and being stripped into his shrowd, he seemed as comely a person to them that were present, as one should lightly see: and whereas in his clothes hee appeared a withered and crooked sillie (weak) olde man, he now stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly behold. * * * * Then they brought a faggotte, kindled with fire, and laid the same downe at doctor Ridley’s feete. To whome M. Latimer spake in this manner, ‘Bee of good comfort, master Ridley, and play the man: wee shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never bee put

Notesâ•… 789 out.’—Fox’s Acts, &c. Similar alterations in the outward figure and deportment of persons brought to like trial were not uncommon. See note to the above passage in Dr. Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Biography, for an example in an humble Welsh fisherman.” WW quotes from John Foxe, Acts and Monuments (2 vols.; London 1610)

Bruges (“Bruges I saw attired with golden light”) “This is not the first poetical tribute which in our times has been paid to this beautiful City. Mr. [Robert] Southey, in the ‘Poet’s Pilgrimage,’ speaks of it in lines which I cannot deny myself the pleasure of connecting with my own. ‘Time hath not wronged her, nor hath Ruin sought Rudely her spendid Structures to destroy, Save in those recent days, with evil fraught, When Mutability, in drunken joy Triumphant, and from all restraint released, Let loose her fierce and many-headed beast. “But for the scars in that unhappy rage Inflicted, firm she stands and undecayed; Like our first Sires, a beautiful old age Is hers in venerable years arrayed; And yet, to her, benignant stars may bring, What fate denies to man,—a second spring. “When I may read of tilts in days of old, And tourneys graced by Chieftains of renown, Fair dames, grave citizens, and warriors bold, If fancy would pourtray some stately town, Which for such pomp fit theatre should be, Fair Bruges, I shall then remember thee.’â•›” WW

The Church of San Salvador, seen from the Lake of Lugano “This Church was almost destroyed by lightning a few years ago, but the Altar and the Image of the Patron Saint were untouched. The Mount, upon the summit of which the Church is built, stands in the midst of the intricacies of the Lake of Lugano; and is, from a hundred points of view, its principal ornament, rising to the height of 2000 feet, and, on one side, nearly perpendicular. The ascent is toilsome; but the Traveller who performs it will be amply rewarded.—Splendid fertility, rich woods and dazzling waters, seclusion and confinement of view contrasted with sea-like extent of plain fading into the sky; and this again, in an opposite quarter, with an horizon of the loftiest and boldest Alps—unite in composing a prospect more diversified by magnificence, beauty, and sublimity, than perhaps any other point in Europe, of so inconsiderable an elevation, commands.” WW

790â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The Eclipse of the Sun, 1820 “The Statues ranged round the Spire and along the roof of the Cathedral of Milan, have been found fault with by Persons whose exclusive taste is unfortunate for themselves. It is true that the same expense and labour judiciously directed to purposes more strictly architectural, might have much heightened the general effect of the building; for, seen from the ground, the Statues appear diminutive. But the coup d’œil, from the best point of view, which is half way up the Spire, must strike an unprejudiced Person with admiration; and surely the selection and arrangement of the Figures is exquisitely fitted to support the religion of the Country in the imaginations and feelings of the Spectator. It was with great pleasure that I saw, during the two ascents which we made, several Children, of different ages, tripping up and down the slender spire, and pausing to look around them, with feelings much more animated than could have been derived from these, or the finest works of art, if placed within easy reach.—Remember also that you have the Alps on one side, and on the other the Apennines, with the Plain of Lombardy between!” WW Desultory Stanzas upon Receiving the Preceding Sheets from the Press “The Bridges of Lucerne are roofed, and open at the sides, so that the passenger has, at the same time, the benefit of shade, and a view of the magnificent Country. The Pictures are attached to the rafters; those from Scripture History on the Cathedral-bridge, amount, according to my notes. . . . Subjects from the Old Testament face the Passenger as he goes towards the Cathedral, and those from the New as he returns. The pictures on these Bridges, as well as those in most other parts of Switzerland, are not to be spoken of as works of art; but they are instruments admirably answering the purpose for which they were designed. The following stanzas were suggested by the “Tower of Tell,” at Altorf, on the outside walls of which the chief exploits of the Hero are painted: it is said to stand upon the very gound where grew the Lime Tree against which his Son was placed when the Father’s archery was put to proof under the circumstances so famous in Swiss History. [Here follows Effusion in Presence of the Painted Tower of Tell, at Altorf (see this poem included above).] In the 3d of the Desultory Stanzas, I am indebted to M. Ramond, who has written with genuine feeling on these subjects.” WW’s note refers to Ramond de Charbonnières’s Observations (see the note to Aix-la-Chapelle on p. 778). XI. Highland Hut WW’s note on this sonnet quotes extensively from his sister Dorothy’s journal:

Notesâ•… 791 “This sonnet describes the exterior of a Highland hut, as often seen under morning or evening sunshine. The reader may not be displeased with the following extract from the journal of a Lady, my fellow-traveller in Scotland, in the autumn of 1803, which accurately describes, under particular circumstances, the beautiful appearance of the interior of one of these rude habitations. ‘On our return from the Trossachs the evening began to darken, and it rained so heavily that we were completely wet before we had come two miles, and it was dark when we landed with our boatman, at his hut upon the banks of Loch Katrine. I was faint from cold: the good woman had provided, according to her promise, a better fire than we had found in the morning; and, indeed, when I sat down in the chimney corner of her smoky biggin, I thought I had never felt more comfortable in my life: a pan of coffee was boiling for us, and, having put our clothes in the way of drying, we all sat down thankful for a shelter. We could not prevail upon our boatman, the master of the house, to draw near the fire, though he was cold and wet, or to suffer his wife to get him dry clothes till she had served us, which she did most willingly, though not very expeditiously. ‘A Cumberland man of the same rank would not have had such a notion of what was fit and right in his own house, or, if he had, one would have accused him of servility; but in the Highlander it only seemed like politeness (however erroneous and painful to us), naturally growing out of the dependence of the inferiors of the clan upon their laird: he did not, however, refuse to let his wife bring out the whisky bottle for his refreshment, at our request. “She keeps a dram,” as the phrase is: indeed, I believe there is scarcely a lonely house by the wayside, in Scotland, where travellers may not be accommodated with a dram. We asked for sugar, butter, barley-bread, and milk; and, with a smile and a stare more of kindness than wonder, she replied, “Ye’ll get that,” bringing each article separately. We caroused our cups of coffee, laughing like children at the strange atmosphere in which we were: the smoke came in gusts, and spread along the walls; and above our heads in the chimney (where the hens were roosting) like clouds in the sky. We laughed and laughed again, in spite of the smarting of our eyes, yet had a quieter pleasure in observing the beauty of the beams and rafters gleaming between the clouds of smoke: they had been crusted over, and varnished by many winters, till, where the firelight fell upon them, they had become as glossy as black rocks, on a sunny day, cased in ice. When we had eaten our supper we sat about half an hour, and I think I never felt so deeply the blessing of a hospitable welcome and a warm fire. The man of the house repeated from time to time that we should often tell of this night when we got to our homes, and interposed praises of his own lake, which he had more than once, when we were returning in the boat, ventured to say was “bonnier than Loch Lomond.” Our companion from the Trossachs, who, it appeared,

792â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth was an Edinburgh drawing master going, during the vacation, on a pedestrian tour to John o’Groat’s house, was to sleep in the barn with my fellow-travellers, where the man said he had plenty of dry hay. I do not believe that the hay of the Highlands is every very dry, but this year it had a better chance than usual: wet or dry, however, the next morning they said they had slept comfortably. When I went to bed, the mistress, desiring me to “go ben,” attended me with a candle, and assured me that the bed was dry, though not “sic as I had been used to.” It was of chaff; there were two others in the room, a cupboard and two chests, upon one of which stood milk in wooden vessels, covered over. The walls of the whole house were of stone unplastered: it consisted of three apartments, the cowhouse at one end, the kitchen or house in the middle, and the spence at the other end; the rooms were divided, not up to the rigging, but only to the beginning of the roof, so that there was a free passage for light and smoke from one end of the house to the other. I went to bed some time before the rest of the family: the door was shut between us, and they had a bright fire, which I could not see, but the light it sent up among the varnished rafters and beams, which crossed each other in almost as intricate and fantastic a manner as I have seen the under boughs of a large beech tree withered by the depth of shade above, produced the most beautiful effect that can be conceived. It was like what I should suppose an underground cave or temple to be, with a dripping or moist roof, and the moonlight entering in upon it by some means or other; and yet the colours were more like those of melted gems. I lay looking up till the light of the fire faded away, and the man and his wife and child had crept into their bed at the other end of the room: I did not sleep much, but passed a comfortable night; for my bed, though hard, was warm and clean: the unusualness of my situation prevented me from sleeping. I could hear the waves beat against the shore of the lake; a little rill close to the door made a much louder noise, and, when I sat up in my bed, I could see the lake through an open windowplace at the bed’s head. Add to this, it rained all night. I was less occupied by remembrance of the Trossachs, beautiful as they were, than the vision of the Highland hut, which I could not get out of my head; I thought of the Fairy-land of Spenser, and what I had read in romance at other times, and then what a feast it would be for a London Pantomine-maker could he but transplant it to Drury Lane, with all its beautiful colours!’—MS.” WW

XVII. Bothwell Castle “The following is from the same MS., and give an account of the visit to Bothwell Castle here alluded to:— ‘It was exceedingly delightful to enter thus unexpectedly upon such a beautiful region. The castle stands nobly, overlooking the Clyde. When we came up to it, I was hurt to see that flower-borders had taken place of the natural over-growings of the ruin, the scattered stones and wild plants. It is a large and

Notesâ•… 793 grand pile of red freestone, harmonising perfectly with the rocks of the river, from which, no doubt, it has been hewn. When I was a little accustomed to the unnaturalness of a modern garden, I could not help admiring the excessive beauty and luxuriance of some of the plants, particularly the purple-flowered clematis, and a broad-leafed creeping plant without flowers, which scrambled up the castle wall, along with the ivy, and spread its vine-like branches so lavishly that it seemed to be in its natural situation, and one could not help thinking that, though not self-planted among the ruins of this country, it must somewhere have its native abode in such places. If Bothwell Castle had not been close to the Douglas mansion, we should have been disgusted with the possessor’s miserable conception of adorning such a venerable ruin; but it is so very near to the house, that of necessity the pleasure-grounds must have extended beyond it, and perhaps the neatness of a shaven lawn and the complete desolation natural to a ruin might have made an unpleasing contrast; and, besides being within the precincts of the pleasure-grounds, and so very near to the dwelling of a noble family, it has forfeited, in some degree, its independent majesty, and becomes a tributary to the mansion: its solitude being interrupted, it has no longer the command over the mind in sending it back into past times, or excluding the ordinary feelings which we bear about us in daily life. We had then only to regret that the castle and the house were so near to each other; and it was impossible not to regret it; for the ruin presides in state over the river, far from city or town, as if it might have a peculiar privilege to preserve its memorials of past ages and maintain its own character for centuries to come. We sat upon a bench under the high trees, and had beautiful views of the different reaches of the river, above and below. On the opposite bank, which is finely wooded with elms and other trees, are the remains of a priory built upon a rock; and rock and ruin are so blended, that it is impossible to separate the one from the other. Nothing can be more beautiful than the little remnant of this holy place: elm trees (for we were near enough to distinguish them by their branches) grow out of the walls, and overshadow a small, but very elegant window. It can scarcely be conceived what a grace the castle and priory impart to each other; and the river Clyde flows on smooth and unruffled below, seeming to my thoughts more in harmony with the sober and stately images of former times, than if it had roared over a rocky channel forcing its sound upon the ear. It blended gently with the warbling of the smaller birds, and the chattering of the larger ones, that had made their nests in the ruins. In this fortress the chief of the English nobility were confined after the battle of Bannockburn. If a man is to be a prisoner, he scarcely could have a more pleasant place to solace his captivity; but I thought that, for close confinement, I should prefer the banks of a lake, or the seaside. The greatest charm of a brook or river is in the liberty to pursue it through its windings; you can then take it in whatever

794â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth mood you like; silent or noisy, sportive or quiet. The beauties of a brook or river must be sought, and the pleasure is in going in search of them; those of a lake, or of the sea, come to you of themselves. These rude warriors cared little, perhaps, about either; and yet, if one may judge from the writings of Chaucer, and from the old romances, more interesting passions were connected with natural objects in the days of chivalry than now; though going in search of scenery, as it is called, had not then been thought of. I had previously heard nothing of Bothwell Castle, at least nothing that I remembered; therefore, perhaps, my pleasure was greater, compared with what I received elsewhere, than others might feel.’—MS. Journal.” WW

XXI. Hart’s-horn Tree, near Penrith “â•›‘In the time of the first Robert de Clifford, in the year 1333 or 1334, Edward Baliol king of Scotland came into Westmorland, and stayed some time with the said Robert at his castles of Appleby, Brougham, and Pendragon. And during that time they ran a stag by a single greyhound out of Whinfell Park to Redkirk, in Scotland, and back again to this place; where, being both spent, the stag leaped over the pales, but died on the other side; and the greyhound, attempting to leap, fell, and died on the contrary side. In memory of this fact the stag’s horns were nailed upon a tree just by, and (the dog being named Hercules) this rhyme was made upon them: “Hercules kill’d Hart a greese And Hart a greese kill’d Hercules.” The tree to this day bears the name of Hart’s-horn Tree. The horns in process of time were almost grown over by the growth of the tree, and another pair was put up in their place.’—Nicholson and Burns’s History of Westmorland and Cumberland. The tree has now disappeared, but the author of these poems well remembers its imposing appearance as it stood, in a decayed state, by the side of the high road leading from Penrith to Appleby. This whole neighbourhood abounds in interesting traditions and vestiges of antiquity, viz., Julian’s Bower; Brougham and Penrith Castles; Penrith Beacon, and the curious remains in Penrith churchyard; Arthur’s Round Table; the excavation, called the Giant’s Cave, on the banks of the Eamont; Long Meg and her Daughters, near Eden, &c. &c.” WW IV. To the River Greta “Many years ago, when the author was at Greta Bridge, in Yorkshire, the hostess of the inn, proud of her skill in etymology, said, that ‘the name of the river was taken from the bridge, the form of which, as every one must notice, exactly resembled a great A.’ But Dr. Whitaker has derived it from the word of common occurrence in the north of England, “to greet;” signifying to lament aloud, mostly with weeping: a conjecture rendered more probable from the

Notesâ•… 795 stony and rocky channel of both the Cumberland and Yorkshire rivers. The Cumberland Greta, though it does not, among the country people, take up that name till within three miles of its disappearance in the river Derwent, may be considered as having its source in the mountain cove of Wythburn, and flowing through Thirlmere, the beautiful features of which lake are known only to those who, travelling between Grasmere and Keswick, have quitted the main road in the vale of Wythburn, and, crossing over to the opposite side of the lake, have proceeded with it on the right hand. The channel of the Greta, immediately above Keswick, has, for the purposes of building, been in a great measure cleared of the immense stones which, by their concussion in high floods, produced the loud and awful noises described in the sonnet. ‘The scenery upon this river,’ says Mr. Southey in his Colloquies, ‘where it passes under the woody side of Latrigg, is of the finest and most rememberable kind:— —ambiguo lapsu refluitque fluitque, Occurrensque sibi venturas aspicit undas.’â•›” WW. The two lines in Latin are by Ovid, in Metamorphoses, VIII, ll. 163, 164, where he describes the river Meander (“It flows and flows back in an uncertain course, and confronting itself sees the approach of its own waves”).

Stanzas Suggested in a Steam-boat off St. Bees’ Heads, on the Coast of Cumberland 75â•… “The author is aware that he is here treading upon tender ground; but to the intelligent reader he feels that no apology is due. The prayers of survivors, during passionate grief for the recent loss of relatives and friends, as the object of those prayers could no longer be the suffering body of the dying, would naturally be ejaculated for the souls of the departed; the barriers between the two worlds dissolving before the power of love and faith. The ministers of religion, from their habitual attendance upon sick-beds, would be daily witnesses of these benign results; and hence would be strongly tempted to aim at giving to them permanence, by embodying them in rites and ceremonies, recurring at stated periods. All this, as it was in course of nature, so was it blameless, and even praiseworthy; but no reflecting person can view without sorrow the abuses which rose out of thus formalizing sublime instincts, and disinterested movements of passion, and perverting them into means of gratifying the ambition and rapacity of the priesthood. But, while we deplore and are indignant at these abuses, it would be a great mistake if we imputed the origin of the offices to prospective selfishness on the part of the monks and clergy: they were at first sincere in their sympathy, and in their degree dupes rather of their own creed, than artful and designing men. Charity is, upon the whole, the safest guide that we can take in judging our fellow-men, whether of past ages, or of the present time.” WW

796â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Musings near Aquapendente “It would be ungenerous not to advert to the religious movement that, since the composition of these verses in 1837, has made itself felt, more or less strongly, throughout the English Church;—a movement that takes, for its first principle, a devout deference to the voice of Christian antiquity. It is not my office to pass judgment on questions of theological detail; but my own repugnance to the spirit and system of Romanism has been so repeatedly and, I trust, feelingly expressed, that I shall not be suspected of a leaning that way, if I do not join in the grave charge, thrown out, perhaps in the heat of controversy, against the learned and pious men to whose labours I allude. I speak apart from controversy; but, with strong faith in the moral temper which would elevate the present by doing reverence to the past, I would draw cheerful auguries for the English Church from this movement, as likely to restore among us a tone of piety more earnest and real, than that produced by the mere formalities of the understanding, refusing, in a degree, which I cannot but lament, that its own temper and judgment shall be controlled by those of antiquity.” WW XIII. At the Convent of Camaldoli “This famous sanctuary was the original establishment of Saint Romualdo, (or Rumwald, as our ancestors saxonised the name) in the 11th century, the ground (campo) being given by a Count Maldo. The Camaldolensi, however, have spread wide as a branch of Benedictines, and may therefore be classed among the gentlemen of the monastic orders. The society comprehends two orders, monks and hermits; symbolised by their arms, two doves drinking out of the same cup. The monastery in which the monks here reside, is beautifully situated, but a large unattractive edifice, not unlike a factory. The hermitage is placed in a loftier and wilder region of the forest. It comprehends between 20 and 30 distinct residences, each including for its single hermit an inclosed piece of ground and three very small apartments. There are days of indulgence when the hermit may quit his cell, and when old age arrives, he descends from the mountain and takes his abode among the monks. My companion had in the year 1831, fallen in with the monk, the subject of these two Sonnets, who showed him his abode among the hermits. It is from him that I received these particulars. He was then about 40 years of age, but his appearance was that of an older man. He had been a painter by profession, but on taking orders changed his name from Santi to Raffaello, perhaps with an unconscious reference as well to the great Sanzio d’Urbino as to the archangel. He assured my friend that he had been 13 years in the hermitage and had never known melancholy or ennui. In the little recess for study and prayer, there was a small collection of books. “I read only,” said he, “books of asceticism and mystical theology.” On being asked the names of the most famous Italian

Notesâ•… 797 mystics, he enumerated Scaramelli, San Giovanni della Croce, San Dionysia Aeropagitica, and with peculiar emphasis Ricardo di San Vittori. The works of Saint Theresa are among ascetics in high repute, but she was a Spaniard. These names may interest some of my readers. We heard that Raffaello was then living in the convent; my friend sought in vain to renew his acquaintance with him. It was probably a day of seclusion. The reader will perceive that these sonnets were supposed to be written when he was a young man.” WW

At Vallombrosa The name of Milton is pleasingly connected with Vallombrosa in many ways. The pride with which the Monk, without any previous question from me, pointed out his residence, I shall not readily forget. It may be proper here to defend the Poet from a charge which has been brought against him, in respect to the passage in Paradise Lost, where this place is mentioned. It is said, that he has erred in speaking of the trees there being deciduous, whereas they are, in fact, pines. The fault-finders are themselves mistaken; the natural woods of the region of Vallombrosa are€deciduous, and spread to a great extent; those near the convent are, indeed, mostly pines; but they are avenues of trees planted€within a few steps of each other, and thus composing large tracts of wood; plots of which are periodically cut down. The appearance of those narrow avenues, upon steep slopes open to the sky, on account of the height which the trees attain by being forced€to grow upwards, is often very impressive. My guide, a boy of about fourteen years old, pointed this out to me in several places. The sun has long been set and Thron’d in the Sun’s descending car [Note placed below the title of the first poem.] “The former of the two following Pieces appeared, many years ago, among the Author’s poems, from which, in subsequent editions, it was excluded. It is here reprinted, at the request of a friend who was present when the lines were thrown off as an impromptu. For printing the latter, some reason should be given, as not a word of it is original: it is simply a fine stanza of Akenside, connected with a still finer from Beattie, by a couplet€of Thomson. This practice, in which the author sometimes indulges, of linking€together, in his own mind, favourite passages from different authors, seems in itself unobjectionable: but, as the publishing such compilations might lead to confusion in literature, he should deem himself inexcusable in giving this specimen, were it not from a hope that it might open to others a harmless source of private gratification.” WW

798

Index of titles, first lines and series titles (Volume 3) A Book came forth of late called, “Peter Bell;” A bright-haired company of youthful Slaves A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted Yew A few bold Patriots, Reliques of the Fight A genial hearth, a hospitable board A German Haggis––from Receipt A little onward lend thy guiding hand A love-lorn Maid, at some far-distant time A pen—to register; a key— A Pilgrim, when the summer day A pleasant music floats along the Mere A Poet!—He hath put his heart to school A point of life between my Parents’ dust A prized memorial this slight work may prove A Rock there is whose homely front A Roman Master stands on Grecian ground A sad and lovely face, with upturn’d eyes A Stream, to mingle with your favourite Dee A sudden conflict rises from the swell A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain A voice, from long-expectant thousands sent A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found A weight of awe not easy to be borne A winged Goddess, clothed in vesture wrought A youth too certain of his power to wade Abruptly paused the Strife;—the field throughout Abuse of Monastic Power Acquittal of the Bishops Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle Address to Kilchurn Castle upon Loch Awe Addressed to ———, on the longest day Adieu, Rydalian Laurels! that have grown Advance—come forth from thy Tyrolean ground Aerial Rock—whose solitary brow Affections lose their objects; Time brings forth Afflictions of England After Landing—the Valley of Dover. Nov. 1820. After Leaving Italy After reading a luscious scene of the above—The Wonder explained After Visiting the Field of Waterloo

138 374 356 15 405 571 107 358 577 132 381 755 490 737 656 34 737 582 415 473 403 570 510 429 495 433 390 403 491 604 117 488 22 82 771 400 457 550 571 429

Volume Indexâ•… 799 After-thought Ah, think how one compelled for life to abide Ah, when the Frame, round which in love we clung Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen Ah why deceive ourselves! by no mere fit Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light Airey-force Valley Aix-la-Chapelle Alas! what boots the long, laborious quest Alfred All praise the Likeness by thy skill portrayed Ambition, following down this far-famed slope American Tradition Amid a fertile region green with wood Amid the dark control of lawless sway Amid this dance of objects sadness steals Among a grave fraternity of Monks Among the dwellers in the silent fields Among the dwellings framed by birds Among the mountains were we nursed, loved stream! Among the Ruins of a Convent in the Apennines An age hath been when Earth was proud And is it among rude untutored Dales And is this—Yarrow?—This the Stream And not in vain embodied to the sight And shall,” the Pontiff asks, “profaneness flow And thus a Structure potent to enchain And what is Penance with her knotted thong And what melodious sounds at times prevail! Apology (“No more: the end is sudden and abrupt”) Apology (“Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend”) Apology (“Not utterly unworthy to endure”) Apology (“The formal World relaxes her cold chain”) Archbishop Chicheley to Henry V Are States oppress’d afflicted and degraded Armenian Lady’s Love, The Around a wild and woody hill Arran! a single-crested Teneriffe Art, Nature, Love here claim united praise Artegal and Elidure— As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest As indignation mastered grief, my tongue As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow

466 559 377 18 549, 565 396 715 430 21 380 738 449 355 480 12 431 708 760 684 490 548 116 21 62 386 382 413 390 387 483 376 393 560 389 595 657 434 499 739 71 422 551 550

800â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow 566 As often as I murmur here 642 As star that shines dependent upon star 405 As the cold aspect of a sunless way 111 As, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain 371 As with the stream our voyage we pursue 384 Aspects of Christianity in America 420 At Albano 538 At Bala-Sala, Isle of Man. (Supposed to be Written by a Friend of the Author.) 497 At Bologna, in Remembrance of the Late Insurrections 549, 565 At Dover 468 At early dawn,—or rather when the air 135 At Florence 546 At Florence.—From M. Angelo (“Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load”) 548 At Florence.—From Michael Angelo (“Rapt above earth by power of one fair face”) 547 At Furness Abbey (“Here, where, of havoc tired and rash undoing”) 746 At Furness Abbey (“Well have yon Railway Labourers to this ground”) 769 At Rome (“Is this, ye Gods, the Capitolian Hill?”) 535 At Rome (“They—who have seen the noble Roman’s scorn”) 537 At Rome.—Regrets.—In Allusion to Niebuhr and other Modern Historians 536 At Sea off the Isle of Man 493 At the Convent of Camaldoli 543 At the Eremite or Upper Convent of Camaldoli 544 At the Grave of Burns. 1803 724 At Tyndrum 477 At Vallombrosa 545 Author’s Voyage down the Rhine (Thirty Years Ago) 431 Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind 32 Avaunt this oeconomic rage! 701 Avon (A Feeder of the Annan), The 481 Avon—a precious, an immortal name! 481 Baptism 416 Bard of the Fleece, whose skilful Genius made 41 Be this the chosen site—the virgin sod 409 Before the Picture of the Baptist, by Raphael, in the Gallery at Florence 547 Before the world had past her time of youth 557 Beguiled into forgetfulness of care 704 Behold a Pupil of the Monkish gown 380 Beneath yon eastern Ridge, the craggy Bound 45

Volume Indexâ•… 801 Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep Black Demons hovering o’er his mitred head Black Stones of Iona, The Blest be the Church, that, watching o’er the needs Blest is this Isle—our native Land Blest Statesman He, whose Mind’s unselfish will Bold words affirmed, in days when faith was strong Bothwell Castle Brave Schill! by death delivered, take thy flight Broken in fortune, but in mind entire Brownie, The Bruges (“Bruges I saw attired with golden light”) Bruges (“The Spirit of Antiquity, enshrined”) Bruges I saw attired with golden light But here no cannon thunders to the gale But liberty, and triumphs on the Main But, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book But, to remote Northumbria’s royal Hall But what if One, thro’ grove or flowery mead But whence came they who for the Saviour Lord By a blest Husband guided, Mary came By a Retired Mariner. (A Friend of the Author.) By antique Fancy trimmed—tho’ lowly, bred By Art’s bold privilege Warrior and War-horse stand By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied By Moscow self–devoted to a blaze By playful smiles, (alas too oft By such examples moved to unbought pains By the Sea-Shore, Isle of Man By the Sea-Side By the Side of Rydal Mere By vain affections unenthralled Call not the royal Swede unfortunate Calm as an under current—strong to draw Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose Camoëns, he the accomplished and the good Can aught survive to linger in the veins Can Lubbock fail to make a good M.P. Canute Captivity Casual Incitement Catechizing Cathedrals, &c.

423 384 503 416 573 562 493 480 20 497 479 428 428 428 362 409 394 374 378 419 679 496 438 746 417 571 747 379 495 691 688 586 19 404 686 569 380 683 381 111 374 406 410

802â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Cave of Staffa (“Thanks for the lessons of this Spot—fit school”) 501 Cave of Staffa (“We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd”) 500 Cave of Staffa (“Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims”) 501 Cenotaph 586 Change me, some God, into that breathing rose! 352 Characteristics of a Child three Years old 49 Charles the Second 402 Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride 678 Child of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream 604 Child of the clouds! remote from every taint 349 Church of San Salvador, seen from the Lake of Lugano, The 439 Church to be Erected 409 Cistertian Monastery 385 Clerical Integrity 403 Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered 419 Column Intended by Buonaparte for a Triumphal Edifice in Milan, The 449 Come gentle Sleep, Death’s image tho’ thou art 736 Commination Service, The 425 Companion! by whose buoyant Spirit cheered 524 Companion to the Foregoing [Love Lies Bleeding] 703 Complacent Fictions were they, yet the same 536 Composed after Reading a Newspaper of the Day 475 Composed after Reading a Newspaper of the Day 561 Composed among the Ruins of a Castle in North Wales 582 Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace’s tower 54 Composed at the Same Time, and on the Same Occasion [Cintra] 18 Composed by the Sea-shore 693 Composed during one of the most awful of the late Storms, Feb. 1819 136 Composed in one of the Catholic Cantons of Switzerland 466 Composed in one of the Valleys of Westmoreland, on Easter Sunday 53 Composed in Recollection of the Expedition of the French into Russia, February 1816 97 Composed in Roslin Chapel, During a Storm 473 475 Composed in the Glen of Loch Etive Composed on May-morning, 1838 553 Composed on the Banks of a Rocky Stream 135 Composed on the Eve of the Marriage of a Friend, in the Vale of Grasmere 48 Composed on the same Morning (“Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun”) 735 Composed while the Author was Engaged in Writing a Tract, Occasioned by the Convention of Cintra,1808 17 Concluded (“As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow”) 550 Concluded (“Long-favoured England! be not thou misled”) 564, 566

Volume Indexâ•… 803 Conclusion (“I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide”) Conclusion (“If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art”) Conclusion (“Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes”) Conclusion (“Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled”) Conclusion (“Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound”) Concluded.—American Episcopacy Conclusion. 1811 Confirmation Confirmation Continued Congratulation Conjectures Continued (“And what melodious sounds at times prevail!”) Continued (“As indignation mastered grief, my tongue”) Continued (“Complacent Fictions were they, yet the same”) Continued (“From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled”) Continued (“Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean”) Continued (“Methinks that to some vacant Hermitage”) Continued (“Mine ear has rung, my spirits sunk subdued”) Continued (“The world forsaken, all its busy cares”) Continued (“They dreamt not of a perishable home”) Continued (“Who ponders National events shall find”) Continued (“Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade”) Contrast, The Conversion Corruptions of the Higher Clergy Council of Clermont, The Countess’s Pillar Cranmer Critics, right honourable Bard! decree Crusaders Crusades Cuckoo at Laverna. may 25th, 1837, The Cuckoo-clock, The Danish Conquests Darkness surrounds us; seeking, we are lost Days passed—and Monte Calvo would not clear Days undefiled by luxury or sloth Dear Fellow-Travellers! think not that the Muse Dear native Regions, I foretell Dear Reliques! from a pit of vilest mold Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed Decay of Piety Dedication (“Dear Fellow-Travellers! think not that the Muse”)

363 603 509 412 560 421 34 416 416 408 368 387 551 536 420 549, 566 378 409 544 411 563 392 584 376 390 382 482 396 571 387 383 540 741 381 370 538 565 427 65 101 492 568 427

804â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Deep is the lamentation! Not alone Deign Sovereign Mistress! to accept a Lay Departed Child! I could forget thee once Departing Summer hath assumed Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August 1803 Deplorable his lot who tills the ground Desire we past illusions to recall?  Despond who will—I heard a voice exclaim Desponding Father! mark this altered bough Destined to war from very infancy Desultory Stanzas Devotional Incitements Dion Discourse was deemed Man’s noblest attribute Dishonoured Rock and Ruin! that, by law Dissensions. Dissolution of the Monasteries Distractions Dogmatic Teachers, of the snow-white fur! Dont wake little Enoch Doomed as we are our native dust Doubling and doubling with laborious walk Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design Dread hour! when upheaved by war’s sulphurous blast Driven in by Autumn’s sharpening air Druid Temple Druidical Excommunication Dunolly Eagle, The Eagle and the Dove, The Eagles, Composed at Dunollie Castle in the Bay of Oban Earl of Breadalbane’s Ruined Mansion, and Family Burial-Place, near Killin, The Ecclesiastical Sketches Echo, upon the Gemmi Eclipse of the Sun, 1820, The Eden! till now thy beauty had I viewed Edward Signing the Warrant for the Execution of Joan of Kent Edward VI Effusion in Presence of the Painted Tower of Tell, at Altorf Effusion, in the pleasure-ground on the banks of the Bran, near Dunkeld Egyptian Maid, The; or, the romance of the water lily. Ejaculation Elegiac Musings in the Grounds of Coleorton Hall, the Seat of the Late

394 772 49 139 36 418 494 498 709 26 462 680 102 774 476 372 391 398 135 571 466 478 415 441 712 413 369 500 759 476 477 368 451 445 505 395 395 465 58 630 412

Volume Indexâ•… 805 Sir George Beaumont, Bart. Elegiac Stanzas (“Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells”) Elegiac Stanzas. 1824 Elegiac Stanzas, composed in the churchyard of Grasmere Elegiac Verses, February 1816 Elizabeth Emigrant French Clergy Eminent Reformers Emperors and Kings, how oft have Temples rung Engelberg English Reformers in Exile Enlightened Teacher, gladly from thy hand Enough! for see, with dim association Enough of climbing toil!—Ambition treads Enough of garlands, of the Arcadian crook Enough of rose-bud lips, and eyes Epigrams on Byron’s Cain Epistle to Sir George Howland Beaumont, Bart. From the South-west Coast of Cumberland,—1811 Epitaph (“By a blest Husband guided, Mary came”) Epitaph in the Chapel-yard of Langdale, Westmoreland Epitaphs Translated from Chiabrera Ere with cold beads of midnight dew Ere yet our course was graced with social trees Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load Ethereal Minstrel! Pilgrim of the sky! Eve’s lingering clouds extend in solid bars Even as a dragon’s eye that feels the stress Even so for me a Vision sanctified Even while I speak, the sacred roofs of France Evening Voluntaries Excuse is needless when with love sincere Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg Extract from the conclusion of a poem, composed upon leaving school Extract from the Strangers bookStation Winandermere Fact, and an Imagination, A; Or, Canute and Alfred Faëry Chasm, The Failing impartial measure to dispense Fair is the Swan, whose majesty—prevailing Fair Lady! can I sing of flowers Fair Land! Thee all men greet with joy; how few Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild Fairy skill

677 454 586 13 92 397 417 397 70 437 397 763 388 123 477 643 571 37 679 747 23 591 351 548 590 12 48 729 417 686 602 723 65 609 100 353 734 102 758 550 594 712

806â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Fall of the Aar—Handec, The Fallen, and diffus’d into a shapeless heap Fame tells of Groves—from England far away— Fancy and Tradition Fancy, who leads the pastimes of the glad Far from [â•…â•… ] Grasmere’s lake serene Farewell Lines (“High bliss is only for a higher state”) Father! to God himself we cannot give Fear hath a hundred eyes that all agree February 1816 Feel for the wrongs to universal ken Feelings of a Noble Biscayan at one of these funerals 1810 Feelings of the Tyrolese Filial Piety First Floweret of the year is that which shows Fish-women Fit retribution, by the moral code Flattered with promise of escape Flower Garden, A Flowers Flowers on the Top of the Pillars at the Entrance of the Cave For action born, existing to be tried For ever hallowed be this morning fair For gentlest uses, oft-times Nature takes For Lubbock vote—no legislative Hack For thirst of power that Heaven disowns For what contend the wise? for nothing less Forbear to deem the Chronicler unwise Foregoing Subject Resumed, The [Lines Suggested by a Portrait] Forgive, illustrious Country! these deep sighs Forms of Prayer at Sea Forsake me not, Urania, but when Ev’n Fort Fuentes—at the Head of the Lake of Como Forth from a jutting ridge, around whose base Forth rushed, from Envy sprung and Self-conceit Four fiery steeds impatient of the rein French, and the Spanish Guerillas, The From early youth I ploughed the restless Main From false assumption rose, and fondly hail’d From little down to least—in due degree From low to high doth dissolution climb From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled From the Alban Hills, looking towards Rome

435 366 143 505 588 37 609 418 399 80 567 31 20 612 577 427 558 683 579 351 502 540 374 437 682

775

413 537 708 539 425 113 441 769 735 610 32 496 422 406 407 420 539

Volume Indexâ•… 807 From the Baptismal hour, thro’ weal and woe 425 From the dark chambers of dejection freed 64 From the fierce aspect of this River throwing 436 From the Pier’s head, musing—and with increase 468 From this deep chasm—where quivering sun-beams play 355 Funeral Service 425 General View of the Troubles of the Reformation 396 Genius of Raphael! if thy wings 641 Giordano, verily thy Pencil’s skill 774 Glad sight wherever new with old 760 Glad Tidings 374 Gleaner, The. (Suggested by a Picture.) 616 Glory to God! and to the Power who came 412 Go back to antique Ages, if thine eyes 594 Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt 682 Gold and Silver Fishes, in a Vase 667 Gordale 135 Grace Darling 760 Grant, that by this unsparing Hurricane 394 Grateful is Sleep, my life in stone bound fast 737 Grateful is Sleep; more grateful still to be 736 Grave-stone upon the Floor in the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral, A 613 Greenock 504 Greta, what fearful listening! when huge stones 489 Grief, thou hast lost an ever ready Friend 47 Grieve for the Man who hither came bereft 543 Gunpowder Plot 399 Had this effulgence disappeared 124 Hail to the fields—with Dwellings sprinkled o’er 354 Hail Twilight,—sovereign of one peaceful hour! 48 Hail, universal Source of pure delight! 82 Hail, Virgin Queen! o’er many an envious bar 397 Hail, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye 18 Happy the feeling from the bosom thrown 602 Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean 549, 566 Hark! ’tis the Thrush, undaunted, undeprest 733 Harp! couldst thou venture, on thy boldest string 400 Hart’s-Horn Tree, near Penrith 482 Hast thou seen, with train incessant 127 Haydon! let worthier judges praise the skill 679 He who defers his work from day to day 701 Her only Pilot the soft breeze the Boat 608 Here let us rest—here, where the gentle beams 122

808â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall Here on their knees men swore: the stones were black Here pause: the Poet claims at least this praise Here stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed Here, where, of havoc tired and rash undoing High bliss is only for a higher state High is our calling, Friend!—Creative Art High on a broad unfertile tract of forest-skirted Down High on her speculative Tower Highland Broach, The Highland Hut Hint from the Mountains for Certain Political Aspirants Hints for the Fancy His Descendants Hôffer Holy and heavenly Spirits as they were Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba’s Cell Hope rules a land for ever green Hope smiled when your nativity was cast Hopes what are they?—Beads of morning How art thou named? In search of what strange land How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high How beautiful your presence, how benign How beautiful, when up a lofty height How blest the Maid whose heart—yet free How clear, how keen, how marvellously bright How disappeared he?” Ask the newt and toad How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled! How profitless the relics that we cull How rich that forehead’s calm expanse! How shall I paint thee?—Be this naked stone How soon—alas! did Man, created pure— Humanity, delighting to behold Humanity. (Written in the Year 1829.) Hunger, and sultry heat, and nipping blast Hymn for the Boatmen, as they Approach the Rapids, under the Castle of Heidelberg I dropped my pen;—and listened to the wind I heard (alas, ’twas only in a dream) I know an aged Man constrained to dwell I listen—but no faculty of mine I rose while yet the cattle, heat-opprest I saw a Mother’s eye intensely bent

385 503 34 482 746 609 80 743 445 484 478 126 354 380 23 398 504 613 502 128 583 773 377 730 447 81 479 414 483 578 350 421 97 673 32 432 18 108 770 439 360 416

Volume Indexâ•… 809 I saw far off the dark top of a Pine I saw the figure of a lovely Maid I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide I watch, and long have watch’d, with calm regret I, who descended with glad step to chase If Life were slumber on a bed of down If money I lack If the whole weight of what we think and feel If there be Prophets on whose spirits rest If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art If this great world of joy and pain If Thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven If to Tradition faith be due If with old love of you, dear Hills! I share Illustrated Books and Newspapers Illustration Imaginative Regrets Immured in Bothwell’s Towers, at times the Brave In a Carriage, upon the Banks of the Rhine In a Garden of the same In Allusion to Various Recent Histories and Notices of the French Revolution In Brugès town is many a street In desultory walk through orchard grounds In due observance of an ancient rite In Lombardy In my mind’s eye a Temple, like a cloud In Sight of the Town of Cockermouth In the Cathedral at Cologne In the Channel, between the Coast of Cumberland and the Isle of Man In the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag. (July 17, 1833.) In the Grounds of Coleorton, the Seat of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. Leicestershire In the Sound of Mull In these fair Vales hath many a Tree Incident at Brugès Indignation of a High-minded Spaniard. 1810 Indulgent Muse, if Thou the labour share Infant M——— M———, The Influence Abused Inmate of a mountain Dwelling

535 401 724 I.721 363 82 368 519 130 593 368 603 683 52 484 553 774 399 394 480 431 45 563 467 752 30 550 606 490 430 493 498 43 476 676 467 32 126 585 381 106

810â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Inscribed upon a rock 127 Inscription (“The massy Ways, carried across these Heights”) 592 Inscription for a Monument in Crosthwaite Church, in the Vale of Keswick 763 Inscription for a National Monument in Commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo 79 Inscription for a Seat in the Groves of Coleorton 45 Inscription Intended for a Stone in the Grounds of Rydal Mount 676 Inscriptions, supposed to be found in, and near, a hermit’s cell 127 Inside of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge 411 Installation Ode.(Ode, perfomed in the Senate House) 775 Intent on gathering wool from hedge and brake 758 Interdict, An 384 Intrepid sons of Albion!—not by you 79 Introduction (“I, who descended with glad step to chase”) 368 Iona. (Upon Landing.) 503 Is Death, when evil against good has fought 556 Is then no nook of English ground secure 764 Is then the final page before me spread 462 Is there a Power that can sustain and cheer 20 Is this, ye Gods, the Capitolian Hill? 535 Isle of Man 495 It was a moral end for which they fought 23 Italian Itinerant, and the Swiss Goatherd, The 442 Jesu! bless our slender Boat 432 Jewish Family, A 641 Journey Renewed 360 June, 1820 (“Fame tells of Groves—from England far away—”) 143 Jung-Frau—and the Rhine at Shauffhausen, The 434 Just as those final words were penned, the sun broke out in power 743 Keep for the Young the empassioned smile 457 Labourer’s Noon-day Hymn, The 702 Lady! a Pen, perhaps, with thy regard 709 Lady! I rifled a Parnassian Cave 141 Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the Eve of a New Year 109 Lament! for Dioclesian’s fiery sword 370 Lance, shield, and sword relinquished—at his side 378 Laodamia 66 Last night, without a voice, this Vision spake 401 Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Refectory of the Convent of Maria Della Grazia—Milan, The 445 414 Latimer and Ridley Latitudinarianism 402 Laud 400

Volume Indexâ•… 811 Let more ambitious Poets take the heart Let other Bards of Angels sing Let us quit the leafy Arbour Liberty (Sequel to the Above [Gold and Silver Fishes].) Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun Like a shipwreck’d Sailor tost Lines Suggested by a Portrait from the Pencil of F. Stone Lines Written in the Album of the Countess of ———. Nov. 5, 1834 List, the winds of March are blowing List—’twas the Cuckoo.—O with what delight List, ye who pass by Lyulph’s Tower Liturgy, The Lo! in the burning West, the craggy nape Lo! where she stands fixed in a saint-like trance Lo! where the Moon along the sky Local Recollection on the Heights near Hockheim Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they Long-favoured England! be not thou misled Long has the dew been dried on tree and lawn Lonsdale! it were unworthy of a Guest Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid Lord of the Vale! astounding Flood! Love Lies Bleeding Loving she is, and tractable, though wild Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells Lyre! though such power do in thy magic live Malham Cove Man’s life is like a Sparrow, mighty King! Mark the concentred Hazels that enclose Marriage Ceremony, The Mary Queen of Scots (Landing at the Mouth of the Derwent, Workington) Maternal Grief Meek Virgin Mother, more benign Melts into silent shades the Youth, discrowned Memorial, Memorials of a Tour in Italy Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 Memory Men of the Western World! in Fate’s dark book Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road Methinks that I could trip o’er heaviest soil

747 580 117 669 735 694 704 709 697 540 513 406 456 737 729 432 135 564 538 508 19 54 703 49 508 454 751 134 375 11 423 492 49 437 413 434 524 427 577 564 398 369 397

812â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Methinks that to some vacant Hermitage Methinks ’twere no unprecedented feat Michael Angelo in reply to the passage upon his statue of Night sleeping Mid-noon is past;—upon the sultry mead Mine ear has rung, my spirits sunk subdued Miserrimus!” and neither name nor date Missions and Travels Modern Athens, The Monastery of Old Bangor Monastic Domes! following my downward way Monastic Voluptuousness Monks, and Schoolmen Monument Commonly Called Long Meg and Her Daughters, near the River Eden, The Monument of Mrs. Howard, (By Nollekins,) in Wetheral Church, near Corby, on the Banks of the Eden More may not be by human Art exprest Morning Exercise, A Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost Motions and Means, on land and sea at war Musings Near Aquapendente Mutability My frame hath often trembled with delight My Lord and Lady Darlington Near Anio’s stream, I spied a gentle Dove Near Rome, in Sight of St. Peter’s Near the Lake of Thrasymene Near the Same Lake Near the spring of the hermitage Never enlivened with the liveliest ray New Church Yard New Churches Night Thought, A No fiction was it of the antique age No more: the end is sudden and abrupt No record tells of lance opposed to lance Nor can Imagination quit the shores Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend Nor shall the eternal roll of praise reject Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid Norman Boy, The Norman Conquest, The

378 359 737 359 409 613 379 487 373 408 391 386 510 506 739 588 509 393 507 524 407 357 610 538 538 539 540 129 703 410 409 729 353 483 361 387 376 403 372 743 382

Volume Indexâ•… 813 Not a breath of air / Ruffles the bosom of this leafy glen Not envying shades which haply yet may throw Not hurled precipitous from steep to steep Not in the lucid intervals of life Not in the mines beyond the western main Not (like his great compeers) indignantly Not Love, nor War, nor the tumultuous swell Not ’mid the World’s vain objects that enslave Not pangs of grief for lenient time too keen Not sedentary all: there are who roam Not seldom, clad in radiant vest Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard Not to the clouds, not to the cliff, he flew Not to the object specially designed Not utterly unworthy to endure Not without heavy grief of heart did He November 1, 1815 November, 1813â•› November, 1836 Now that a Parthenon ascends, to crown Now that all hearts are glad, all faces bright Now that Astrology is out of date Now that the farewell tear is dried Now when the primrose makes a splendid show Nun’s Well, Brigham Nunnery O dearer far than light and life are dear O flower of all that springs from gentle blood O for a dirge! But why complain? O, for a kindling touch of that pure flame O for the help of Angels to complete O Lelius, beauteous flower of gentleness O Mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot O there is blessing in this gentle Breeze O Thou who movest onward with a mind O’er the wide earth, on mountain and on plain O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied Oak of Guernica! Tree of holier power Oak of Guernica, The Obligations of Civil to Religious Liberty Occasioned by the Same Battle. February 1816 Ode (“Who rises on the banks of Seine”)

715 349 362 687 509 433 568 17 496 379 130 353 606 500 556 393 24 81 52 729 487 52 683 442 740 491 507 583 29 586 80 430 28 355 144 28 22 31 30 30 404 79 98

814â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ode.—1817 113 Ode, composed in January 1816 93 Ode, Composed on May Morning 595 Ode, Composed upon an Evening of Extraordinary Splendor and Beauty 124 Ode, Performed in the Senate-house, Cambridge, on the Sixth of July, M.DCCC.XLVII. At the first Commencement after the Installation of His Royal Highness The Prince Albert, Chancellor of the University. Installation Ode. 775 Ode. The morning of the day appointed for a general thanksgiving. January 18, 1816 82 Ode. The Pass of Kirkstone 120 Ode, to Lycoris, May, 1817 116 Of mortal Parents is the Hero born 23 Oft have I caught from fitful breeze 510 Oft have I seen, ere Time had ploughed my cheek 568 Oft is the Medal faithful to its trust 45 Oh Life! without thy chequered scene 466 Oh what a Wreck! how changed in mien and speech! 732 Old Abbeys 408 On a Celebrated Event in Ancient History 34 On a Nursery piece of the same, by a Scottish Bard— 571 On a Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, upon the Field of Waterloo, by Haydon 746 On an Event in Col: Evans’s redoubted performances in Spain 729 On Approaching the Staub-Bach, Lauterbrunnen 435 On Being Stranded near the Harbour of Boulogne 456 On Cain a Mystery dedicated to Sir Walter Scott 571 On Entering Douglas Bay, Isle of Man 494 On Hearing the “Ranz Des Vaches” on the Top of the Pass of St. Gothard 439 On, loitering Muse!—The swift Stream chides us—on! 354 On Man, on Nature, and on Human Life II.300 On Revisiting Dunolly Castle 499 On Seeing a Needlecase in the Form of a Harp, the Work of E. M. S. 607 On the Banks of a Rocky Stream 776 On the Death of His Late Majesty 141 On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples 472 On the Disinterment of the Remains of the Duke D’enghien 101 On the Final Submission of the Tyrolese 23 On the Frith of Clyde. (In a Steam-Boat.) 499 On the Lake of Brientz 436 On the Power of Sound 623 On the Same Occasion (“When in the antique age of bow and spear”) 575 On the same Subject (“Though I beheld at first with blank surprise”) 738

Volume Indexâ•… 815 On the Sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland On to Iona!—What can she afford  Once I could hail (howe’er serene the sky) Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear Once on the top of Tynwald’s formal mound One who was suffering tumult in his soul Open Prospect Open your Gates ye everlasting Piles! Other Benefits Other Influences Our bodily life, some plead, that life the shrine Our Lady of the Snow Outstretching flame-ward his upbraided hand Oxford, May 30, 1820 (“Shame on this faithless heart! that could allow”) Oxford, May 30, 1820 (“Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth!”) Papal Abuses Papal Dominion Parsonage in Oxfordshire, A Part fenced by man, part by a rugged steep Pastor and Patriot! at whose bidding rise Pastoral Character Patriotic Sympathies Patriots informed with Apostolic light Paulinus Pause, courteous Spirit!—Balbi supplicates Pause, Traveller! whosoe’er thou be People! your chains are severing link by link People! your chains are severing link by link Perhaps some needful service of the State Persecution of the Scottish Convenanters Persecution Persuasion Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, at Hamilton Palace Pilgrim Fathers, The Pilgrim’s Dream, or, the Star and the Glow-worm, The Pillar of Trajan, The Pine of Monte Mario at Rome, The Placard for a Poll bearing an Old Shirt Place of Burial in the South of Scotland, A Places of Worship Plain of Donnerdale, The Plea for Authors, A. May, 1838 Plea for the Historian

473 502 600 389 497 136 354 410 386 377 558 437 396 142 142 384 385 569 473 492 405 401 421 374 25 127 475 561 27 414 370 375 480 420 132 551 535 130 473 405 357 734 537

816â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Poet and the Caged Turtledove, The 642 Poet to his Grandchild, A. (Sequel to the Foregoing.) 736 Point at Issue, The 413 Poor Robin 740 Portentous change when History can appear 563 Praised be the Art whose subtle power could stay 35 Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain-springs 419 Prelude (“In desultory walk through orchard grounds”) 752 Prelude, The (1798–1799) I.530 Prelude, The (1805–1806) II.11 Prelude, The (1824–1839) 144 Presentiments 665 Presentiments! they judge not right 665 Primitive Saxon Clergy 377 Primrose of the Rock, The 656 Prithee gentle Lady list 602 Processions, Suggested on a Sabbath Morning in the Vale of Chamouny 451 Prompt transformation works the novel lore 376 Protest against the Ballot. 1838 735 Proud were ye, Mountains, when, in times of old 765 Pure element of waters! wheresoe’er 134 Pursued by Hate, debarred from friendly care 400 Queen and Negress chaste and fair! 570 Queen of the stars!—so gentle, so benign 718 Question and Answer 683 Ranging the Heights of Scawfell or Black-coom 493 Rapt above earth by power of one fair face 547 Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace 384 Recollection of the Portrait of King Henry Eighth, Trinity Lodge, Cambridge 569 Record we too, with just and faithful pen 386 Recovery 371 Redbreast, The. (Suggested in a Westmoreland Cottage.) 712 Redoubted King, of courage leonine 383 Reflections 394 Regrets 407 Reluctant call it was; the rite delayed 561 Reproof 378 Rest and Be Thankful, at the Head of Glencroe 478 Rest, rest, perturbed Earth! 92 Resting-place, The 359 Retired Marine Officer, Isle of Man, The 496 Retirement 593

Volume Indexâ•… 817 Return (“A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted Yew”) Return, Content! for fondly I pursued Revival of Popery Richard I Rise!—they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask River Duddon, a series of Sonnets, The River Eden, Cumberland, The Roman Antiquities Discovered, at Bishopstone, Herefordshire Roman Antiquities. (From the Roman Station at Old Penrith.) Rotha, my Spiritual Child! this head was grey Rural Ceremony Rural Illusions Russian Fugitive, The Sacheverell Sacrament Sacred Religion, “mother of form and fear,” Sad thoughts, avaunt!—the fervour of the year Said red-ribbon’d Evans Said Secrecy to Cowardice and Fraud Saints Same Subject, The (“Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance”) Same Subject, The [“The lovely Nun (submissive but more meek”] Same, The (“Holy and heavenly Spirits as they were”) Same, The (“What awful pèrspective! while from our sight”) Saxon Conquest Saxon Monasteries, and Lights and Shades of the Religion Say, what is Honour?—Tis the finest sense Say, ye far-travelled clouds, far-seeing hills Scattering, like Birds escaped the Fowler’s net Scene in Venice Scene Scenery Between Namur and Liege Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned Screams round the Arch-druid’s brow the Seamew—white Seathwaite Chapelâ•› Seclusion See the Condemned alone within his cell See what gay wild flowers deck this earth-built Cot See, where his difficult way that Old Man wins Seek who will delight in fable September 1815 September, 1819 Sequel to the Foregoing [Beggars] composed many years after

356 360 413 383 372 349 505 611 483 581 406 663 643 415 417 356 359 733 562 392 353 392 398 411 372 379 17 473 397 384 436 429 605 369 356 378 559 478 550 765 81 138 111

818â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Sequel to the Norman Boy 744 Serving no haughty Muse, my hands have here 732 Shame on this faithless heart! that could allow 142 Sheep-washing 359 Show me the noblest Youth of present time 617 Shun not this Rite, neglected, yea abhorred 425 Sigh no more Ladies, sigh no more 747 Since risen from ocean, ocean to defy 498 Six months to six years added, He remain’d 52 Sky-Prospect—From the Plain of France 456 Small service is true service while it lasts 704 Smile of the Moon—for so I name 109 So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive 764 Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge—the Mere 689 Sole listener, Duddon! to the breeze that play’d 351 Somnambulist, The 513 Son of my buried Son, while thus thy hand 736 Song for the Spinning Wheel Founded upon a Belief Prevalent among the Pastoral Vales of Westmorland 46 Sonnet (“The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s hand”) 115 Sonnet on Milton 12 Sonnet, on seeing a tuft of snowdrops in a storm 136 Sonnet, on the detraction which followed the publication of a certain poem 138 Sonnet on the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway 764 Sonnet, on the same occasion. February 1816 98 Sonnets Composed or Suggested during a tour in Scotland, in the Summer of 1833. 488 Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty and Order 561 Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty I.639 Sonnets, suggested by Mr. W. Westall’s views of the caves, &c. in Yorkshire 134 Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death. In Series 555 Soon did the Almighty Giver of all rest 754 Source of the Danube, The 433 Spanish Guerillas. 1811 33 Sponsors 418 St. Catherine of Ledbury 611 Stanzas, Composed in the Semplon Pass 450 Stanzas on the Power of Sound 623 Stanzas Suggested in a Steam-Boat off St. Bees’ Heads, on the Coast of Cumberland 518 Stay, bold Adventurer; rest awhile thy limbs 42 Stay, little cheerful Robin! stay 755

Volume Indexâ•… 819 Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways Stepping-stones, The Strange visitation! at Jemima’s lip Stranger, ’tis a sight of pleasure Stretched on the dying Mother’s lap, lies dead Struggle of the Britons against the Barbarians Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright Such contrast, in whatever track we move Such fruitless questions may not long beguile Suggested by a beautiful ruin upon one of the islands of Loch Lomond, a place chosen for the retreat of a solitary individual, from whom this habitation acquired the name of The Brownie’s Cell Suggested by a Picture of the Bird of Paradise Suggested by a View from an Eminence in Inglewood Forest Suggested by the View of Lancaster Castle (On the Road from the South) Supposed Address to the Same, 1810 Surprized by joy—impatient as the Wind Sweet is the holiness of Youth”—so felt Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Sylph was it? or a Bird more bright Take, cradled Nursling of the mountain, take Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense Tell me, ye Zephyrs! that unfold Temptations from Roman Refinements Tenderly do we feel by Nature’s law Thanks for the lessons of this Spot—fit school Thanksgiving after Childbirth That gloomy cave, that gothic nich That happy gleam of vernal eyes That heresies should strike (if truth be scanned The Ball whizzed by—it grazed his ear The Baptist might have been ordain’d to cry The Bard, whose soul is meek as dawning day The Brownie’s Cell The captive Bird was gone;—to cliff or moor The cattle crowding round this beverage clear The confidence of Youth our only Art The Crescent-moon, the Star of Love The Danish Conqueror, on his royal chair The embowering Rose, the Acacia, and the Pine The encircling ground, in native turf array’d The fairest, brightest hues of ether fade The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn

507 352 592 126 506 372 591 400 355 55 750 481 555 30 49 395 46 663 350 411 578 371 555 501 424 643 616 372 729 547 79 55 499 491 431 747 100 43 410 47 494

820â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The floods are roused, and will not soon be weary The forest huge of ancient Caledon The formal World relaxes her cold chain The gallant Youth, who may have gained The gentlest Poet, with free thoughts endowed The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian Plains The Imperial Consort of the Fairy King The imperial Stature, the colossal stride The Kirk of Ulpha to the Pilgrim’s eye The Lady whom you here behold The Land we from our Fathers had in trust The leaves that rustled on this oak-crowned hill The Linnet’s warble, sinking towards a close The lovely Nun (submissive but more meek The Lovers took within this ancient grove The martial courage of a day is vain— The massy Ways, carried across these Heights The Minstrels played their Christmas tune The most alluring clouds that mount the sky The old inventive Poets, had they seen The oppression of the tumult—wrath and scorn— The Pibroch’s note, discountenanced or mute The power of Armies is a visible thing The Roman Consul doomed his sons to die The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal The Scottish Broom on Bird-nest brae The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said The soaring Lark is blest as proud The Spirit of Antiquity, enshrined The Star that comes at close of day to shine The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s hand The struggling Rill insensibly is grown The Sun has long been set The sun is couched, the sea-fowl gone to rest The Sun, that seemed so mildly to retire The sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields The tears of man in various measure gush The Turban’d Race are poured in thickening swarms The unremitting voice of nightly streams The Vested Priest before the Altar stands The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen The wind is now thy organist;—a clank The woman-hearted Confessor prepares

507 481 560 469 750 36 366 569 362 601 20 690 688 392 505 33 592 363 758 357 373 474 34 556 424 131 11 667 428 740 115 352 I.668, 692 691 691 138 395 383 616 423 399 473 382

Volume Indexâ•… 821 The world forsaken, all its busy cares The Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale There are no colours in the fairest sky There is a pleasure in poetic pains There never breathed a man who when his life There!” said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride There’s not a nook within this solemn Pass These Vales were saddened with no common gloom These who gave earliest notice, as the Lark They called Thee merry England, in old time They dreamt not of a perishable home They seek, are sought; to daily battle led They—who have seen the noble Roman’s scorn This Height a ministering Angel might select This Land of Rainbows, spanning glens whose walls This Lawn, &c. This Lawn, a carpet all alive Tho’ searching damps and many an envious flaw Those breathing Tokens of your kind regard Those old credulities, to nature dear Those silver clouds collected round the sun Thou look’st upon me, and dost fondly think Thou sacred Pile! whose turrets rise Though I beheld at first with blank surprise Though joy attend thee orient at the birth Though many suns have risen and set Though Pulpits and the Desk may fail Though the bold wings of Poesy affect Though to give timely warning and deter Thought on the Seasons Thoughts Suggested the Day Following on the Banks of Nith, near the Poet’s Residence Threats come which no submission may assuage Three Cottage Girls, The Throned in the Sun’s descending car Through Cumbrian wilds, in many a mountain cove Through shattered galleries, ’mid roofless halls Thus far I write to please my Friend Thus is the storm abated by the craft Thy functions are etherial Tis gone—with old belief and dream Tis He whose yester-evening’s high disdain Tis said that to the brow of yon fair hill

544 416 403 606 25 504 474 573 388 489 411 33 537 42 475 664 664 445 669 536 137 491 439 738 479 597 748 750 558 683 727 391 447 693 70 582 571 389 623 748 734 615

822â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Tis said, fantastic Ocean doth enfold To ——— (“From the dark chambers of dejection freed”) To ——— (“Happy the feeling from the bosom thrown”) To ——— (“If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art”) To ——— (“Let other Bards of Angels sing”) To ——— (“Look at the fate of summer Flowers”) To ——— (“O dearer far than light and life are dear”) To ——— (“Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright”) To ——— (“Those silver clouds collected round the sun”) To ——— (“Wait, prithee, wait!” this answer Lesbia threw) To ———, on her first ascent to the summit of Helvellyn To ———, upon the birth of her first-born child, march, 1833 To ———. With a selection from the poems of Anne, Countess of Winchelsea; and extracts of similar character from other writers; the whole transcribed by a female friend To a Friend (On the Banks of the Derwent) To a good Man of most dear memory To a Lady, in Answer to a Request that I would write her a Poem upon Some Drawings that she had made of Flowers in the Island of Madeira To a Painter To a Redbreast—(In Sickness) To a Sky-lark (“Ethereal Minstrel! Pilgrim of the sky!”) To a Snow-drop, appearing very early in the Season To an Octogenarian To appease the Gods; or public thanks to yield To B. R. Haydon, Esq. On Seeing his Picture of Napoleon Buonaparte on the Island of St. Helena To barren heath, and quaking fen To Cordelia M——, Hallsteads, Ullswater To Enterprize To Henry Crabb Robinson To kneeling Worshippers no earthly floor To Lucca Giordano To May To public notice, with reluctance strong To R. B. Haydon, Esq. To Rotha Q ——— To S. H. To the Author’s Portrait To the Cuckoo (“Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard”) To the Earl of Lonsdale To the Lady ———, On Seeing the Foundation Preparing for the Erection of ——— Chapel, Westmoreland

427 64 602 603 580 581 583 591 137 612 106 694 141 492 719 758 738 755 590 135 771 451 679 55 509 457 524 425 774 597 71 80 581 602 682 606 508 573

Volume Indexâ•… 823 To the Lady E. B. and the Hon. Miss P. 582 To the Moon. (Composed by the Sea-Side,—on the Coast of Cumberland.) 716 To the Moon. (Rydal.) 718 To the Pennsylvanians 565 To the Planet Venus, an Evening Star. Composed at Loch Lomond 479 To the Planet Venus, upon its Approximation (as an Evening Star) to the Earth, January 1838 731 To the Poet, Dyer 41 To the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D., Master of Harrow School, after the Perusal of his Theophilus Anglicanus, recently published 763 To the Rev. Dr. W——  363 To the River Derwent 490 To the River Greta, near Keswick 489 To the Same (“Enough of climbing toil!—Ambition treads”) 123 To the Same (“Here let us rest—here, where the gentle beams”) 122 To the Torrent at the Devil’s Bridge, North Wales 583 To the Utilitarians 701 Too frail to keep the lofty vow 727 Torquato Tasso rests within this Tomb 29 Town of Schwytz, The 438 Tracks let me follow far from human-kind 435 Tradition of Darley Dale, Derbyshire, A 615 Tradition 358 Tradition, be thou mute! Oblivion, throw 476 Tranquillity! the sovereign aim wert thou 506 Translation of the Bible 394 Translation of the Sestet of a Sonnet by Tasso 569 Transubstantiation 388 Trepidation of the Druids 369 Triad, The 617 Tributary Stream 357 Trosachs, The 474 Troubled long with warring notions 129 Troubles of Charles the First 400 True is it that Ambrosio Salinero 23 Tynwald Hill 497 Uncertainty 370 Under the shadow of a stately Pile 546 Ungrateful Country, if thou e’er forget 404 Unless to Peter’s Chair the viewless wind 385 Unquiet Childhood here by special grace 585 Untouched through all severity of cold 612 Up to the throne of God is borne 702

824â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Upon a Portrait 740 Upon Perusing the Foregoing Epistle Thirty Years after its Composition 754 Upon Seeing a Coloured Drawing of the Bird of Paradise in an Album 714 Upon the Late General Fast. March, 1832 561 Upon the Same Event 35 Upon the Same Occasion 139 Upon the Sight of a Beautiful Picture 35 Upon the sight of the Portrait of a female Friend.— 739 Upon those lips, those placid lips, I look 739 Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill 381 Valedictory Sonnet 732 Vallombrosa! I longed in thy shadiest wood 450 Vallombrosa—I longed in thy shadiest wood 545 Vaudois, The 419 [Vernal Ode] 113 n View from the Top of Black Comb 42 Virgin, The 393 Visitation of the Sick 424 Wait, prithee, wait!” this answer Lesbia threw 612 Waldenses 388 Walton’s Book of “Lives” 403 Wanderer! that stoop’st so low, and com’st so near 716 Wansfell! this Household has a favoured lot 759 Ward of the Law!—dread Shadow of a King! 141 Warning, a Sequel to the Foregoing, The. March, 1833 697 Wars of York and Lancaster 389 Was it to disenchant, and to undo 430 Was the aim frustrated by force or guile 134 Watch, and be firm! for soul-subduing vice 371 We can endure that He should waste our lands 32 We gaze, not sad to think that we must die 740 We have not passed into a doleful City 504 We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd 500 Weak is the will of Man, his judgement blind II.572; III.53 Weep not, beloved Friends! nor let the air 27 Well have yon Railway Labourers to this ground 769 Well sang the bard who called the Grave, in strains 477 Well worthy to be magnified are they 420 Westmoreland Girl, The 765 What! Adam’s eldest Son in this sweet strain! 571 What aim had they, the Pair of Monks, in size 544 What aspect bore the Man who roved or fled 352 What awful pèrspective! while from our sight 411

Volume Indexâ•… 825 What Beast in wilderness or cultured field What Beast of Chase hath broken from the cover? What! He—who, mid the kindred throng What heavenly smiles! O Lady mine” What know we of the Blest above What lovelier home could gentle Fancy chuse? What mischief cleaves to unsubdued regret What need of clamorous bells, or ribbands gay What strong allurement draws, what spirit guides What though the Accused, upon his own appeal What though the Italian pencil wrought not here When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry When, far and wide, swift as the beams of morn When first, descending from the moorlands When haughty expectations prostrate lie When here with Carthage Rome to conflict came When human touch, as monkish books attest When in the antique age of bow and spear When Philoctetes in the Lemnian Isle When Severn’s sweeping Flood had overthrown When the soft hand of sleep had closed the latch Whence that low voice?—A whisper from the heart Where are they now, those wanton Boys? Where be the noisy followers of the game Where be the Temples which in Britain’s Isle Where holy ground begins—unhallowed ends Where lies the truth? has Man, in wisdom’s creed Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root Where Towers are crushed, and unforbidden weeds Where will they stop, those breathing Powers While beams of orient light shoot wide and high While flowing Rivers yield a blameless sport While from the purpling east departs While Merlin paced the Cornish sands While not a leaf seems faded,—while the fields While poring Antiquarians search the ground While the Poor gather round, till the end of time While they, her Playmates once, light-hearted tread Who but is pleased to watch the moon on high Who comes with rapture greeted, and caress’d Who ponders National events shall find Who rashly strove thy Image to portray? Who rises on the banks of Seine

389 451 58 759 436 429 693 48 731 673 465 414 35 723 136 539 611 576 593 754 93 358 111 457 71 569 773 423 551 680 759 366 595 630 81 611 482 590 773 402 563 714 98

826â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Who swerves from innocence, who makes divorce 361 Who weeps for Strangers?—Many wept 13 Why art thou silent! Is thy love a plant 676 Why cast ye back upon the Gallic shore 456 Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings— 588 Why should the Enthusiast, journeying through this Isle 489 Why should we weep or mourn, Angelic boy 770 Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled 412 Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine 495 Wicliffe 389 Widow on Windermere Side, The 730 Wild Duck’s Nest, The 366 William the Third 404 Wishing-gate, The 613 Wishing-gate Destroyed, The 748 With a Small Present 737 With copious eulogy in prose or rhyme 677 With each recurrence of this glorious morn 53 With earnest look, to every voyager 503 With sacrifice, before the rising morn 66 With smiles each happy face was overspread 406 Within her gilded cage confined 584 Within the mind strong fancies work 120 Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey! 381 Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease 390 Woman! the Power who left his throne on high 424 Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave 407 Wouldst Thou be gathered to Christ’s chosen flock 731 Wouldst thou be taught, when sleep has taken flight 741 Wren’s Nest, A 684 Written at the Request of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. and in his Name, for an Urn, placed by him at the Termination of a newly-planted Avenue, in the same Grounds 44 510 Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson’s Ossian Written in an Album 704 Written in Mrs. Field’s AlbumOpposite a Pen-and-ink Sketch in the Manner of a Rembrandt Etching done by Edmund Field 643 Written, November 13,1814, on a blank leaf in a Copy of the Author’s Poem The Excursion, upon hearing of the death of the late Vicar of Kendal 71 Written upon a Blank Leaf in “The Complete Angler” 366 Written upon a fly leaf in the Copy of the Author’s Poems which was sent to her Majesty Queen Victoria 772 Written with a Slate-pencil, on a Stone, on the Side of the Mountain of

Volume Indexâ•… 827 Black Comb Yarrow Revisited Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems . . . 1831 Yarrow Unvisited Yarrow Visited, September, 1814 Ye Apennines! with all your fertile vales Ye brood of conscience—Spectres! that frequent Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth! Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims Ye Storms, resound the praises of your King! Ye, too, must fly before a chasing hand Ye trees! whose slender roots entwine Ye vales and hills whose beauty hither drew Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Yes! thou art fair, yet be not moved Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound Yet more,—round many a Convent’s blazing fire Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade Yet Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind Yet, yet, Biscayans, we must meet our Foes You call it, “Love lies bleeding,”—so you may You have heard “a Spanish Lady Young England—what is then become of Old 1810 (“Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen”) 1810 (“O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied”) 1811 (“They seek, are sought; to daily battle led”)

A complete index to all poems in the 3 Volumes appears in Volume 3 of the Electronic Version which is available from: http://www.humanities-ebooks.co.uk http://www.myilibrary.com The complete index is also available for free download from http://www.humanities-ebooks.co.uk

42 469 469 I.665 62 524 557 44 142 501 98 392 548 763 406 768 560 391 392 402 31 703 658 567 18 31 34

Complete Indexâ•… 829

Index of titles, first lines and series titles Volumes I, II, III A barking sound the Shepherd hears A Book came forth of late called, “Peter Bell;” A bright-haired company of youthful Slaves A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted Yew A famous Man is Robin Hood A few bold Patriots, Reliques of the Fight A fig for your languages, German and Norse A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by A genial hearth, a hospitable board A German Haggis––from Receipt A little onward lend thy guiding hand A love-lorn Maid, at some far-distant time A Manciple there was, one of a Temple A narrow girdle of rough stones and crags A pen—to register; a key— A Pilgrim, when the summer day A plain Youth, Lady, and a simple Lover A pleasant music floats along the Mere A Poet!—He hath put his heart to school A point of life between my Parents’ dust A prized memorial this slight work may prove A Rock there is whose homely front A Roman Master stands on Grecian ground A sad and lovely face, with upturn’d eyes A simple child, dear brother Jim A slumber did my spirit seal A Stream, to mingle with your favourite Dee A sudden conflict rises from the swell A Traveller on the skirt of Sarum’s Plain A trouble, not of clouds, or weeping rain A voice, from long-expectant thousands sent A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found A weight of awe not easy to be borne A whirl-blast from behind the hill A winged Goddess, clothed in vesture wrought A Winter’s Evening— Fragment of an Ode to winter A youth too certain of his power to wade Abruptly paused the Strife;—the field throughout Abuse of Monastic Power

I.591 III.138 III.374 III.356 I.652 III.15 I.440 I.631 III.405 III.571 III.107 III.358 II.659 I.458 III.577 III.132 I.736 III.381 III.755 III.490 III.737 III.656 III.34 III.737 I.332 I.401 III.582 III.415 I.123 III.473 III.403 III.570 III.510 I.420 III.429 I.21 III.495 III.433 III.390

830â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Acquittal of the Bishops III.403 Address from the Spirit of Cockermouth Castle III.491 Address to Kilchurn Castle upon Loch Awe III.604 Address to my Infant Daughter, On being reminded, that she was a month old, on that day I.744 Address to the Ocean I.70 Address to the Sons of Burns after visiting their Father’s Grave. (August 14th, 1803.) I.664 Addressed to ———, on the longest day III.117 Adieu ye lays that fancy’s flow’rs adorn I.35 Adieu, Rydalian Laurels! that have grown III.488 Admonition (“Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye!”) I.693 Advance—come forth from thy Tyrolean ground III.22 Adventures on Salisbury Plain I.123 Aeneid, Book I II.667 Aeneid, Book II II.696 Aeneid, Book III II.727 Aeneid, Book IV, Lines 688–692 II.750 Aeneid, Book VIII, Lines 337–366 II.750 Aerial Rock—whose solitary brow III.82 Affections lose their objects; Time brings forth III.771 Affliction of Margaret —— of ——, The I.606 Afflictions of England III.400 After Landing—the Valley of Dover. Nov. 1820. III.457 After Leaving Italy III.550 After reading a luscious scene of the above—The Wonder explained III.571 After Visiting the Field of Waterloo III.429 After-thought III.466 AGE! twine thy brows with fresh spring flowers! I.659 Ah! have you seen a bird of sweetest tone I.20 Ah me! the lowliest children of the spring I.50 Ah, think how one compelled for life to abide III.559 Ah, when the Frame, round which in love we clung III. 377 Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen III.18 Ah why deceive ourselves! by no mere fit III.549, 565 Aid, glorious Martyrs, from your fields of light III.396 Airey-force Valley III.715 Aix-la-Chapelle III.430 Alas! what boots the long, laborious quest III.21 Alcæus to Sappho I.479 Alfred III.380 Alice Fell I.622 All breathed in silence, and intensely gaz’d II.696

Complete Indexâ•… 831 All by the moonlight river side All praise the Likeness by thy skill portrayed Along the mazes of this song I go Ambition, following down this far-famed slope American Tradition Amid a fertile region green with wood Amid the dark control of lawless sway Amid the smoke of cities did you pass Amid this dance of objects sadness steals Among a grave fraternity of Monks Among all lovely things my Love had been Among the dwellers in the silent fields Among the dwellings framed by birds Among the mountains were we nursed, loved stream! Among the Ruins of a Convent in the Apennines An age hath been when Earth was proud An Orpheus! An Orpheus!—yes, Faith may grow bold Anacreon Imitated And has the Sun his flaming Chariot driv’n And I will bear my vengeful blade And is it among rude untutored Dales And is this—Yarrow?—This the Stream And not in vain embodied to the sight And shall,” the Pontiff asks, “profaneness flow And sweet it is to see in summer time And thus a Structure potent to enchain And what is Penance with her knotted thong And what melodious sounds at times prevail! And will you leave me thus alone Andrew Jones Anecdote for Fathers, shewing how the art of lying may be taught Animal Tranquillity and Decay (see Old Man Travelling) Another year!—another deadly blow! Anticipation. October, 1803 Apology (“No more: the end is sudden and abrupt”) Apology (“Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend”) Apology (“Not utterly unworthy to endure”) Apology (“The formal World relaxes her cold chain”) Archbishop Chicheley to Henry V Are souls then nothing? Must at length the die Are States oppress’d afflicted and degraded Armenian Lady’s Love, The Arms, and the Man I sing, the first who bore

I.492 III.738 I.746 III.449 III.355 III.480 III.12 I.455 III.431 III.708 I.616 III.760 III.684 III.490 III.548 III.116 I.687 I.14 I.11 I.50 III.21 III.62 III.386 III.382 I.749 III.413 III.390 III.387 I.18 I.417 I.330 I.651 I.651 III.483 III.376 III.393 III.560 III.389 I.735 III.595 III.657 II.667

832â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Army of clouds, what would ye? Flight of Clouds II.292 Around a wild and woody hill III.434 Arran! a single-crested Teneriffe III.499 Art, Nature, Love here claim united praise III.739 Art thou a Statesman, in the van I.448 Art thou the Bird whom Man loves best I.594 Artegal and Elidure— III.71 As faith thus sanctified the warrior’s crest III.422 As indignation mastered grief, my tongue III.551 As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow III.550 As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow III.566 As often as I murmur here III.642 As star that shines dependent upon star III.405 As the cold aspect of a sunless way III.111 As the fresh wine the poet pours I.49 As, when a storm hath ceased, the birds regain III.371 As with the stream our voyage we pursue III.384 Aspects of Christianity in America III.420 At Albano III.538 At Bala-Sala, Isle of Man. (Supposed to be Written by a Friend of the Author.) III.497 At Bologna, in Remembrance of the Late Insurrections III.549, 565 At Dover III.468 At early dawn,—or rather when the air III.135 At Florence III.546 At Florence.—From M. Angelo (“Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load”)  III.548 At Florence.—From Michael Angelo (“Rapt above earth by power of one fair face”) III.547 At Furness Abbey (“Here, where, of havoc tired and rash undoing”) III.746 At Furness Abbey (“Well have yon Railway Labourers to this ground”) III.769 At last this loitering day of June II.250 At Rome (“Is this, ye Gods, the Capitolian Hill?”) III.535 At Rome (“They—who have seen the noble Roman’s scorn”) III.537 At Rome.—Regrets.—In Allusion to Niebuhr and other Modern HistoriansIII.536 At Sea off the Isle of Man III.493 At the Convent of Camaldoli III.543 At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears I.414 At the Eremite or Upper Convent of Camaldoli III.544 At the Grave of Burns. 1803 III.724 At Tyndrum III.477 At Vallombrosa III.545 Author’s Voyage down the Rhine (Thirty Years Ago) III.431

Complete Indexâ•… 833 Avaunt all specious pliancy of mind Avaunt this oeconomic rage! avaunt! with tenfold pleasure Avon (A Feeder of the Annan), The Avon—a precious, an immortal name! Baptism Barberry-Tree, The Bard of the Fleece, whose skilful Genius made Be this the chosen site—the virgin sod Beaumont! it was thy wish that I should rear Beauty and Moonlight. An Ode Fragment Before I see another day Before the Picture of the Baptist, by Raphael, in the Gallery at Florence Before the world had past her time of youth Beggars Begone, thou fond presumptuous Elf Beguiled into forgetfulness of care Behold a Pupil of the Monkish gown Behold her, single in the field Beloved Vale!” I said, “when I shall con Beneath this thorn when I was young Beneath yon eastern Ridge, the craggy Bound Benjamin the Waggoner Between two sister moorland rills Bishops and Priests, blessèd are ye, if deep Black Demons hovering o’er his mitred head Black Stones of Iona, The Blandusian spring than glass more brightly clear Blest be the Church, that, watching o’er the needs Blest is this Isle—our native Land Blest Statesman He, whose Mind’s unselfish will Blind Highland Boy, The. (A Tale told by the Fire-side.) Bold words affirmed, in days when faith was strong Borderers, The Bothwell Castle Brave Schill! by death delivered, take thy flight Bright Flower, whose home is every where! Broken in fortune, but in mind entire Brook, that hast been my solace days and weeks Brothers, The Brownie, The Bruges (“Bruges I saw attired with golden light”) Bruges (“The Spirit of Antiquity, enshrined”)

III.32 III.701 I.23 III.481 III.481 III.416 I.728 III.41 III.409 I.720 I.17 I.368 III.547 III.557 I.619 I.402 III.704 III.380 I.656 I.636 I.74 III.45 II.250 I.451 III.423 III.384 III.503 I.60 III.416 III.573 III.562 I.676 III.493 I.151 III.480 III.20 I.690 III.497 I.721 I.384 III.479 III.428 III.428

834â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Bruges I saw attired with golden light But cease my Soul ah! cease to pry But hark! the Curfew tolls! and lo! the night But here no cannon thunders to the gale But liberty, and triumphs on the Main But, to outweigh all harm, the sacred Book But, to remote Northumbria’s royal Hall But what if One, thro’ grove or flowery mead But whence came they who for the Saviour Lord By a blest Husband guided, Mary came By a Retired Mariner. (A Friend of the Author.) By antique Fancy trimmed—tho’ lowly, bred By Art’s bold privilege Warrior and War-horse stand By chain yet stronger must the Soul be tied By Derwent’s side my Father’s cottage stood By Moscow self–devoted to a blaze By playful smiles, (alas too oft By such examples moved to unbought pains By the Sea-Shore, Isle of Man By the Sea-Side By the Side of Rydal Mere By their floating Mill By vain affections unenthralled Calais, August 15th, 1802 Calais, August, 1802 Call not the royal Swede unfortunate Calm as an under current—strong to draw Calm is all nature as a resting wheel Calm is the fragrant air, and loth to lose Calvert! it must not be unheard by them Camoëns, he the accomplished and the good Can aught survive to linger in the veins Can Lubbock fail to make a good M.P. Cantata del Metastasio Cantata, From Metastasio Canute Captivity Carved, Mathew, with a master’s skill Casual Incitement Catechizing Cathedrals, &c. Cave of Staffa (“Thanks for the lessons of this Spot—fit school”) Cave of Staffa (“We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd”)

III.428 I.38 I.21 III.362 III.409 III.394 III.374 III.378 III.419 III.679 III.496 III.438 III.746 III.417 I.314 III.571 III.747 III.379 III.495 III.691 III.688 I.684 III.586 I.641 I.639 III.19 III.404 I.635 III.686 I.638 III.569 III.380 III.683 I.740 I.738 III.381 III.111 I.483 III.374 III.406 III.410 III.501 III.500

Complete Indexâ•… 835 Cave of Staffa (“Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims”) Cenotaph Change me, some God, into that breathing rose! Character, In the Antithetical Manner, A Character of the Happy Warrior Characteristics of a Child three Years old Charles the Second Chatsworth! thy stately mansion, and the pride Child of loud-throated War! the mountain Stream Child of the clouds! remote from every taint Childless Father, The Church of San Salvador, seen from the Lake of Lugano, The Church to be Erected Cistertian Monastery Clarkson! it was an obstinate Hill to climb Clerical Integrity Coldly we spake. The Saxons, overpowered Column Intended by Buonaparte for a Triumphal Edifice in Milan, The Come gentle Sleep, Death’s image tho’ thou art Come thou in robe of darkest blue” [To Melpomene] Come ye—who, if (which Heaven avert!) the Land Commination Service, The Companion! by whose buoyant Spirit cheered Companion to the Foregoing [Love Lies Bleeding] Complacent Fictions were they, yet the same Complaint, A Complaint of a Forsaken Indian Woman, The Composed after a Journey across the Hamilton Hills, Yorkshire Composed after Reading a Newspaper of the Day Composed after Reading a Newspaper of the Day Composed among the Ruins of a Castle in North Wales Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace’s tower Composed at the Same Time, and on the Same Occasion [Cintra] Composed by the Sea-shore Composed by the Sea-side, near Calais, August, 1802 Composed during one of the most awful of the late Storms, Feb. 1819 Composed in one of the Catholic Cantons of Switzerland Composed in one of the Valleys of Westmoreland, on Easter Sunday Composed in Recollection of the Expedition of the French into Russia, â•… February 1816 Composed in Roslin Chapel, During a Storm Composed in the Glen of Loch Etive Composed in the Valley, Near Dover, On the Day of landing

III.501 III.586 III.352 I.450 I.600 III.49 III.402 III.678 III.604 III.349 I.441 III.439 III.409 III.385 I.694 III.403 III.419 III.449 III.736 I.41 I.743 III.425 III.524 III.703 III.536 I.699 I.368 I.630 III.475 III.561 III.582 III.54 III.18 III.693 I.639 III.136 III.466 III.53 III.97 III.473 III.475 I.644

836â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Composed on May-morning, 1838 III.553 Composed on the Banks of a Rocky Stream III.135 Composed on the Eve of the Marriage of a Friend, in the Vale of Grasmere III.48 Composed on the same Morning (“Life with yon Lambs, like day, â•… is just begun”) III.735 Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1803 (“Earth has not any thing to shew more fair”) I.635 Composed when a probability existed of our being obliged to quit Rydal Mount as a Residence II.294 Composed while the Author was Engaged in Writing a Tract, Occasioned by the Convention of Cintra,1808 III.17 Concluded (“As leaves are to the tree whereon they grow”) III.550 Concluded (“Long-favoured England! be not thou misled”) III.564, 566 Conclusion (“I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide”) III.363 Conclusion (“If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art”) III.603 Conclusion (“Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes”) III.509 Conclusion (“Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled”) III.412 Conclusion (“Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound”) III.560 Concluded.—American Episcopacy III.421 Conclusion. 1811 III.34 Confirmation III.416 Confirmation Continued III.416 Congratulation III.408 Conjectures III.368 Continued (“And what melodious sounds at times prevail!”) III.387 Continued (“As indignation mastered grief, my tongue”) III.551 Continued (“Complacent Fictions were they, yet the same”) III.536 Continued (“From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled”) III.420 Continued (“Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean”) III.549, 566 Continued (“Methinks that to some vacant Hermitage”) III.378 Continued (“Mine ear has rung, my spirits sunk subdued”) III.409 Continued (“The world forsaken, all its busy cares”) III.544 Continued (“They dreamt not of a perishable home”) III.411 Continued (“Who ponders National events shall find”) III.563 Continued (“Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade”) III.392 Contrast, The III.584 Conversion III.376 Convict, The I.370 Corruptions of the Higher Clergy III.390 Could I the priest’s consent have gained I.480 Council of Clermont, The III.382 Countess’s Pillar III.482 Cranmer III.396

Complete Indexâ•… 837 Critics, right honourable Bard! decree Crusaders Crusades Cuckoo and the Nightingale, The; Translation of Chaucer’s Cuckoo at Laverna. may 25th, 1837, The Cuckoo-clock, The Danish Conquests Darkness surrounds us; seeking, we are lost Days passed—and Monte Calvo would not clear Days undefiled by luxury or sloth Dear Child of Nature, let them rail! Dear fellow—Traveller! here we are once more Dear Fellow-Travellers! think not that the Muse Dear Native Brooks your ways have I pursu’d Dear native Regions, I foretell Dear Reliques! from a pit of vilest mold Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed Death a Dirge Death of the Starling, The Decay of Piety Dedication (“Dear Fellow-Travellers! think not that the Muse”) Deep is the lamentation! Not alone Degenerate Douglas! oh, the unworthy Lord! Deign Sovereign Mistress! to accept a Lay Departed Child! I could forget thee once Departing Summer hath assumed Departure from the Vale of Grasmere. August 1803 Deplorable his lot who tills the ground Description of a dying storm Descriptive Sketches Desire we past illusions to recall?  Despond who will—I heard a voice exclaim Desponding Father! mark this altered bough Destined to war from very infancy Desultory Stanzas Devotional Incitements Dion Dirge  Dirge Sung by a Minstrel Discourse was deemed Man’s noblest attribute Dishonoured Rock and Ruin! that, by law Dissensions. Dissolution of the Monasteries

III.571 III.387 III.383 II.642 III.540 III.741 III.381 III.370 III.538 III.565 I.684 I.644 III.427 I.735 III.65 III.101 III.492 I.45 I.16 III.568 III.427 III.394 I.664 III.772 III.49 III.139 III.36 III.418 I.39 I.97 III.494 III.498 III.709 III.26 III.462 III.680 III.102 I.483 I.45 III.774 III.476 III.372 III.391

838â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Distractions III.398 Distressful gift! this Book receives I.757 Dog—An Idyllium, The I.22 Dogmatic Teachers, of the snow-white fur! III.135 Dont wake little Enoch III.571 Doomed as we are our native dust III.466 Doubling and doubling with laborious walk III.478 Down a swift Stream, thus far, a bold design III.415 Dread hour! when upheaved by war’s sulphurous blast III.441 Driven in by Autumn’s sharpening air III.712 Druid Temple III.413 Druidical Excommunication III.369 Dunolly Eagle, The III.500 Eagle and the Dove, The III.759 Eagles, Composed at Dunollie Castle in the Bay of Oban III.476 Earl of Breadalbane’s Ruined Mansion, and Family Burial-Place, near Killin, The III.477 Earth has not any thing to shew more fair I.635 Ecclesiastical Sketches III.368 Echo, upon the Gemmi III.451 Eclipse of the Sun, 1820, The III.445 Eden! till now thy beauty had I viewed III.505 Edward Signing the Warrant for the Execution of Joan of Kent III.395 Edward VI III.395 Effusion in Presence of the Painted Tower of Tell, at Altorf III.465 Effusion, in the pleasure-ground on the banks of the Bran, near Dunkeld III.58 Egyptian Maid, The; or, the romance of the water lily. III.630 Ejaculation III.412 Ejaculation at the Grave of Burns I.721 Elegiac Musings in the Grounds of Coleorton Hall, the Seat of the Late Sir George Beaumont, Bart. III.677 Elegiac Stanzas (“Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells”) III.454 Elegiac Stanzas. 1824 III.586 Elegiac Stanzas, composed in the churchyard of Grasmere III.13 Elegiac Stanzas, Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle, in a Storm,   Painted by Sir George Beaumont I.709 Elegiac Verses, February 1816 III.92 Elegiac Verses in Memory of my Brother, John Wordsworth I.755 Elegies Written for John Wordsworth I.750 Elegy written in the same place upon the same occasion I.480 Elizabeth III.397 Ellen Irwin, Or the Braes of Kirtle I.398 Emigrant French Clergy III.417

Complete Indexâ•… 839 Eminent Reformers Emperors and Kings, how oft have Temples rung Engelberg England! the time is come when thou shouldst wean English Reformers in Exile Enlightened Teacher, gladly from thy hand Enough! for see, with dim association Enough of climbing toil!—Ambition treads Enough of garlands, of the Arcadian crook Enough of rose-bud lips, and eyes Epigrams on Byron’s Cain Epistle to Sir George Howland Beaumont, Bart. From the South-west Coast of Cumberland,—1811 Epitaph (“By a blest Husband guided, Mary came”) Epitaph in the Chapel-yard of Langdale, Westmoreland Epitaphs Translated from Chiabrera Ere we had reach’d the wish’d-for place, night fell Ere with cold beads of midnight dew Ere yet our course was graced with social trees Eternal Lord! eased of a cumbrous load Ethereal Minstrel! Pilgrim of the sky! Eve’s lingering clouds extend in solid bars Even as a dragon’s eye that feels the stress Even so for me a Vision sanctified Even while I speak, the sacred roofs of France Evening Sonnets Evening Sounds Evening Voluntaries Evening Walk, An Ewtrees Excursion, The; being a Portion of The Recluse, a Poem Excuse is needless when with love sincere Expostulation and Reply Extempore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg Extract from the conclusion of a poem, composed upon leaving school Extract from the Strangers bookStation Winandermere Extracts from The Vale of Esthwaite Fact, and an Imagination, A; Or, Canute and Alfred Faëry Chasm, The Failing impartial measure to dispense Fair Ellen Irwin, when she sate Fair is the Swan, whose majesty—prevailing Fair Lady! can I sing of flowers

III.397 III.70 III.437 I.649 III.397 III.763 III.388 III.123 III.477 III.643 III.571 III.37 III.679 III.747 III.23 I.630 III.591 III.351 III.548 III.590 III.12 III.48 III.729 III.417 I.48 I.39 III.686 I.82 I.748 II.298 III.602 I.365 III.723 III.65 III.609 I.35 III.100 III.353 III.734 I.398 III.102 III.758

840â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Fair Land! Thee all men greet with joy; how few Fair Prime of life! were it enough to gild Fair Star of Evening, Splendor of the West Fairy skill Fall of the Aar—Handec, The Fallen, and diffus’d into a shapeless heap Fame tells of Groves—from England far away— Fancy and Tradition Fancy, who leads the pastimes of the glad Far from [â•…â•… ] Grasmere’s lake serene Far from my dearest friend, ’tis mine to rove Farewell Lines (“High bliss is only for a higher state”) Farewell, thou little Nook of mountain ground Farmer of Tilsbury Vale, The. A Character Father! to God himself we cannot give Fear hath a hundred eyes that all agree February 1816 Feel for the wrongs to universal ken Feelings of a Noble Biscayan at one of these funerals 1810 Feelings of the Tyrolese Female Vagrant The Festivals have I seen that were not names Fidelity Filial Piety First Floweret of the year is that which shows Fish-women Fit retribution, by the moral code Five years have passed; five summers, with the length Flattered with promise of escape Flower Garden, A Flowers Flowers on the Top of the Pillars at the Entrance of the Cave Fly, some kind Spirit, fly to Grasmere Vale! Fond words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep! For action born, existing to be tried For ever hallowed be this morning fair For gentlest uses, oft-times Nature takes For Lubbock vote—no legislative Hack For thirst of power that Heaven disowns For what contend the wise? for nothing less Forbear to deem the Chronicler unwise Force of Prayer, The; Or the Founding of Bolton Priory. A Tradition. Foregoing Subject Resumed, The [Lines Suggested by a Portrait]

III.550 III.594 I.639 III.712 III.435 III.366 III.143 III.505 III.588 III.37 I.82 III.609 I.736 I.476 III.418 III.399 III.80 III.567 III.31 III.20 I.314 I.641 I.591 III.612 III.577 III.427 III.558 I.372 III.683 III.579 III.351 III.502 I.743 I.632 III.540 III.374 III.437 III.682 III.775 III.413 III.537 II.632 III.708

Complete Indexâ•… 841 Foresight, Or the Charge of a Child to his younger Companion I.698 Forgive, illustrious Country! these deep sighs III.539 Forms of Prayer at Sea III.425 Forsake me not, Urania, but when Ev’n III.113 Forsaken, The I.726 Fort Fuentes—at the Head of the Lake of Como III.441 Forth from a jutting ridge, around whose base III.769 Forth rushed, from Envy sprung and Self-conceit III.735 Fountain, The. A Conversation I.432 Four fiery steeds impatient of the rein III.610 Fragment, A (“Between two sister moorland rills”) I.451 French, and the Spanish Guerillas, The III.32 From Bolton’s old monastic tower II.575 From early youth I ploughed the restless Main III.496 From false assumption rose, and fondly hail’d III.422 From little down to least—in due degree III.406 From low to high doth dissolution climb III.407 From Rite and Ordinance abused they fled III.420 From Stirling Castle we had seen I.665 From the Alban Hills, looking towards Rome III.539 From the Baptismal hour, thro’ weal and woe III.425 From the dark chambers of dejection freed III.64 From the fierce aspect of this River throwing III.436 From the Greek I.50 From the Italian of Michael Angelo (“Yes! hope may with my strong desire â•… keep pace”) I.633 From the Pier’s head, musing—and with increase III.468 From the Same (“No mortal object did these eyes behold”) I.634 From the Same. To the Supreme Being (“The prayers I make will then be â•… sweet indeed”) I.634 From this deep chasm—where quivering sun-beams play III.355 Funeral Service III.425 General View of the Troubles of the Reformation III.396 Genius of Raphael! if thy wings III.641 Gentle Zephyr I.739 Georgics, Book IV, Lines 511–515 II.751 Giordano, verily thy Pencil’s skill III.774 Gipsies I.672 Glad sight wherever new with old III.760 Glad Tidings III.374 Gleaner, The. (Suggested by a Picture.) III.616 Glen-almain, or the Narrow Glen I.658 Glory to God! and to the Power who came III.412

842â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Go back to antique Ages, if thine eyes III.594 Go, faithful Portrait! and where long hath knelt III.682 Gold and Silver Fishes, in a Vase III.667 Goody Blake, and Harry Gill, A True Story I.322 Gordale III.135 Grace Darling III.760 Grant, that by this unsparing Hurricane III.394 Grateful is Sleep, my life in stone bound fast III.737 Grateful is Sleep; more grateful still to be III.736 Grave-stone upon the Floor in the Cloisters of Worcester Cathedral, A III.613 Great Men have been among us; hands that penn’d I.646 Green Linnet, The I.682 Greenock III.504 Greta, what fearful listening! when huge stones III.489 Greyhound Ballad I.72 Grief, thou hast lost an ever ready Friend III.47 Grieve for the Man who hither came bereft III.543 Gunpowder Plot III.399 Had this effulgence disappeared III.124 Hail to the fields—with Dwellings sprinkled o’er III.354 Hail Twilight,—sovereign of one peaceful hour! III.48 Hail, universal Source of pure delight! III.82 Hail, Virgin Queen! o’er many an envious bar III.397 Hail, Zaragoza! If with unwet eye III.18 Happy the feeling from the bosom thrown III.602 Hard task! exclaim the undisciplined, to lean III.549, 566 Hark! ’tis the Thrush, undaunted, undeprest III.733 Harp! couldst thou venture, on thy boldest string III.400 Hart’s-Horn Tree, near Penrith III.482 Hart-leap Well I.377 Hast thou seen, with train incessant III.127 Hast thou then survived I.744 Haydon! let worthier judges praise the skill III.679 He who defers his work from day to day III.701 Her eyes are wild, her head is bare I.346 Her only Pilot the soft breeze the Boat III.608 Here let us rest—here, where the gentle beams III.122 Here M. ————sleep[s] who liv’d a patriarch’s days I.23 Here Man more purely lives, less oft doth fall III.385 Here on their knees men swore: the stones were black III.503 Here pause: the Poet claims at least this praise III.34 Here stood an Oak, that long had borne affixed III.482 Here, where, of havoc tired and rash undoing III.746

Complete Indexâ•… 843 High bliss is only for a higher state High deeds, O Germans, are to come from you! High in the breathless Hall the Minstrel sate High is our calling, Friend!—Creative Art High o’er the silver Rocks I rov’d High on a broad unfertile tract of forest-skirted Down High on her speculative Tower Highland Broach, The Highland Hut Hint from the Mountains for Certain Political Aspirants Hints for the Fancy His Descendants His simple truths did Andrew glean Hoarse sound the swoln and angry floods Hôffer Holy and heavenly Spirits as they were Home at Grasmere Homeward we turn. Isle of Columba’s Cell Hope Hope rules a land for ever green Hope smiled when your nativity was cast Hopes what are they?—Beads of morning Horace To Apollo Horn of Egremont Castle, The How art thou named? In search of what strange land How beautiful the Queen of Night, on high How beautiful your presence, how benign How beautiful, when up a lofty height How blest the Maid whose heart—yet free How clear, how keen, how marvellously bright How disappeared he?” Ask the newt and toad How fast the Marian death-list is unrolled! How long will ye round me be roaring How profitless the relics that we cull How rich that forehead’s calm expanse! How rich the wave, in front, imprest How shall I paint thee?—Be this naked stone How soon—alas! did Man, created pure— How sweet at Eve’s still hour the song How sweet in Life’s tear-glistering morn How sweet it is, when mother Fancy rocks How sweet, when crimson colors dart Humanity, delighting to behold

III.609 I.694 I.703 III.80 I.17 III.743 III.445 III.484 III.478 III.126 III.354 III.380 I.403 I.42 III.23 III.398 I.558 III.504 I.41 III.613 III.502 III.128 I.49 I.603 III.583 III.773 III.377 III.730 III.447 III.81 III.479 III.414 I.70 III.483 III.578 I.363 III.350 III.421 I.37 I.40 I.629 I.479 III.97

844â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Humanity. (Written in the Year 1829.) Hunger, and sultry heat, and nipping blast Hymn for the Boatmen, as they Approach the Rapids, under the Castle of â•… Heidelberg I am not One who much or oft delight I bring, ye little noisy crew! I dropped my pen;—and listened to the wind I find it written of Simonides I griev’d for Buonaparte, with a vain I hate that Andrew Jones: he’ll breed I have a boy of five years old I have been here in the Moon-light I heard (alas, ’twas only in a dream) I heard a thousand blended notes I know an aged Man constrained to dwell I listen—but no faculty of mine I marvel how Nature could ever find space I met Louisa in the shade I only look’d for pain and grief I rose while yet the cattle, heat-opprest I saw a Mother’s eye intensely bent I saw an aged Beggar in my walk  I saw far off the dark top of a Pine I saw the figure of a lovely Maid I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold I shiver, Spirit fierce and bold I the while I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide I travell’d among unknown Men I wandered lonely as a Cloud I was thy Neighbour once, thou rugged Pile! I watch, and long have watch’d, with calm regret I, who descended with glad step to chase I will be that fond Mother I’ve watch’d you now a full half hour Idiot Boy, The Idle Shepherd-boys, Or Dungeon-gill Force, A Pastoral, The If from the public way you turn your steps If grief dismiss me not to them that rest If Life were slumber on a bed of down If money I lack If Nature, for a favorite Child If the whole weight of what we think and feel

III.673 III.32 III.432 I.699 I.483 III.18 I.734 I.640 I.417 I.330 I.727 III.108 I.334 III.770 III.439 I.450 I.590 I.752 III.360 III.416 I.442 III.535 III.401 III.724 I.721 I.42 III.363 I.616 I.670 I.709 III.82 III.368 I.740 I.675 I.349 I.409 I.461 I.52 III.519 III.130 I.429 III.593

Complete Indexâ•… 845 If there be Prophets on whose spirits rest If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art If this great world of joy and pain If thou in the dear love of some one friend If Thou indeed derive thy light from Heaven If to Tradition faith be due If with old love of you, dear Hills! I share Illustrated Books and Newspapers Illustration Imaginative Regrets Imitation of Juvenal, Satire VIII Immured in Bothwell’s Towers, at times the Brave In a Carriage, upon the Banks of the Rhine In a Garden of the same In a smooth croft of Lorton’s pleasant Vale In Allusion to Various Recent Histories and Notices of the French â•… Revolution In Brugès town is many a street In desultory walk through orchard grounds In distant countries I have been In due observance of an ancient rite In Evening tints of joy [array’d] In Lombardy In my mind’s eye a Temple, like a cloud In Sight of the Town of Cockermouth In the Cathedral at Cologne In the Channel, between the Coast of Cumberland and the Isle of Man In the Frith of Clyde, Ailsa Crag. (July 17, 1833.) In the Grounds of Coleorton, the Seat of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. â•… Leicestershire In the Sound of Mull In the sweet shire of Cardigan In these fair Vales hath many a Tree In this still place, remote from men In trellis’d shed with clustering roses gay In youth from rock to rock I went Incident at Brugès Incident, Characteristic of a favourite Dog, which belonged to a Friend of â•… the Author Indignation of a High-minded Spaniard. 1810 Indulgent Muse, if Thou the labour share Infant M——— M———, The Influence Abused

III.368 III.603 III.683 I.414 III.52 III.484 III.553 III.774 III.399 III.394 I.60 III.480 III.431 III.45 I.748 III.563 III.467 III.752 I.343 III.30 I.37 III.550 III.606 III.490 III.430 III.493 III.498 III.43 III.476 I.327 III.676 I.658 II.573 I.588 III.467 I.690 III.32 III.126 III.585 III.381

846â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Inland, within a hollow Vale, I stood I.644 Inmate of a mountain Dwelling III.106 Inscribed upon a rock III.127 Inscription (“The massy Ways, carried across these Heights”) III.592 Inscription for a Monument in Crosthwaite Church, in the Vale of â•… Keswick III.763 Inscription for a National Monument in Commemoration of the Battle of â•… Waterloo III.79 Inscription for a seat by the pathway side ascending to Windy Brow I.55 Inscription for a Seat in the Groves of Coleorton III.45 Inscription for the House (an Outhouse) on the Island at Grasmere I.415 Inscription for the Spot where the Hermitage stood on St. Herbert’s Island, â•… Derwent-water I.414 Inscription Intended for a Stone in the Grounds of Rydal Mount III.676 Inscriptions, supposed to be found in, and near, a hermit’s cell III.127 Inside of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge III.411 Intent on gathering wool from hedge and brake III.758 Interdict, An III.384 Intrepid sons of Albion!—not by you III.79 Introduction (“I, who descended with glad step to chase”) III.368 Iona. (Upon Landing.) III.503 Is Death, when evil against good has fought III.556 Is it a Reed that’s shaken by the wind I.639 Is then no nook of English ground secure III.764 Is then the final page before me spread III.462 Is there a Power that can sustain and cheer III.20 Is this, ye Gods, the Capitolian Hill? III.535 Isle of Man III.495 It is a beauteous Evening, calm and free I.637 It is no Spirit who from Heaven hath flown I.675 It is not to be thought of that the Flood I.646 It is the first mild day of March I.326 It seems a day, / One of those heavenly days which cannot die I.435 It was a moral end for which they fought III.23 It was an April morning: fresh and clear I.454 Italian Itinerant, and the Swiss Goatherd, The III.442 Jesu! bless our slender Boat III.432 Jewish Family, A III.641 Jones! when from Calais southward you and I I.640 Journey Renewed III.360 June, 1820 (“Fame tells of Groves—from England far away—”) III.143 Jung-Frau—and the Rhine at Shauffhausen, The III.434 Just as the blowing thorn began I.480

Complete Indexâ•… 847 Just as those final words were penned, the sun broke out in power III.743 Keep for the Young the empassioned smile III.457 King of Sweden, The I.642 Kitten and the Falling Leaves, The I.609 Labourer’s Noon-day Hymn, The III.702 Lady! a Pen, perhaps, with thy regard III.709 Lady! I rifled a Parnassian Cave III.141 Lady! the songs of Spring were in the grove I.636 Lament for Bion (from Moschus) I.50 Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the Eve of a New Year III.109 Lament! for Dioclesian’s fiery sword III.370 Lance, shield, and sword relinquished—at his side III.378 Laodamia III.66 Last night, without a voice, this Vision spake III.401 Last of the Flock, The I.343 Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, in the Refectory of the Convent of â•… Maria Della Grazia—Milan, The III.445 Late on a breezy vernal eve I.728 Latimer and Ridley III.414 Latitudinarianism III.402 Laud III.400 Laura, farewell my Laura! I.738 Let more ambitious Poets take the heart III.747 Let other Bards of Angels sing III.580 Let thy wheelbarrow alone I.416 Let us quit the leafy Arbour III.117 Liberty (Sequel to the Above [Gold and Silver Fishes].) III.669 Lie here sequester’d:—be this little mound I.692 Life with yon Lambs, like day, is just begun III.735 Like a shipwreck’d Sailor tost III.694 Lines Composed at Grasmere I.708 Lines left upon a seat in a Yew-tree which Stands near the Lake of Esthwaite, â•… on a desolate part of the shore, yet commanding a beautiful prospect. I.312 Lines on Milton I.52 Lines on the Bicentenary of Hawkshead School I.11 Lines on the Expected Invasion. 1803 I.743 Lines Suggested by a Portrait from the Pencil of F. Stone III.704 Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey, On revisiting the banks of â•… the Wye during a tour, July 13, 1798 I.372 Lines written at a small distance from my house, and sent by my little boy â•… to the person to whom they are addressed I.326 Lines written in early spring I.334 Lines Written in the Album of the Countess of ———. Nov. 5, 1834 III.709

848â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Lines written near Richmond, upon the Thames, at Evening I.363 Lines Written with a Slate pencil upon a Stone, the largest of a heap lying â•… near a deserted Quarry upon one of the Islands at Rydale I.428 List! the bell-Sprite stuns my ears I.45 List! the death-bell stuns mine ears I.45 List, the winds of March are blowing III.697 List—’twas the Cuckoo.—O with what delight III.540 List, ye who pass by Lyulph’s Tower III.513 Liturgy, The III.406 Lo! in the burning West, the craggy nape III.456 Lo! where she stands fixed in a saint-like trance III.737 Lo! where the Moon along the sky III.729 Local Recollection on the Heights near Hockheim III.432 London, 1802 I.646 Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they III.135 Long-favoured England! be not thou misled III.564 Long has the dew been dried on tree and lawn III.538 Lonsdale! it were unworthy of a Guest III.508 Look, five blue eggs are gleaming there! I.673 Look now on that Adventurer who hath paid III.19 Lord of the Vale! astounding Flood! III.54 Loud is the Vale! the Voice is up I.708 Louisa I.590 Love Lies Bleeding III.703 Loving she is, and tractable, though wild III.49 Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen III.508 Lucy Gray I.407 Lulled by the sound of pastoral bells III.454 Lyre! though such power do in thy magic live III.751 Lyrical Ballads, and Other Poems I.312 Mad Mother, The I.346 Malham Cove III.134 Man’s life is like a Sparrow, mighty King! III.375 Manciple, The (from the Prologue) and his Tale; Translation of Chaucer’s II.659 Manciple’s Tale, The II.660 Mark the concentred Hazels that enclose III.11 Marriage Ceremony, The III.423 Mary Queen of Scots (Landing at the Mouth of the Derwent, Workington) III.492 Maternal Grief III.49 Mathew Elegies I.480 Matron of Jedborough and Her Husband, The I.659 Meek Virgin Mother, more benign III.437 melancholy joy I.35

Complete Indexâ•… 849 Melts into silent shades the Youth, discrowned Memorial, Memorials of a Tour in Italy Memorials of a Tour on the Continent, 1820 Memory Men of the Western World! in Fate’s dark book Men, who have ceased to reverence, soon defy Mercy and Love have met thee on thy road Methinks that I could trip o’er heaviest soil Methinks that to some vacant Hermitage Methinks ’twere no unprecedented feat Methought I saw the footsteps of a throne Michael Angelo in reply to the passage upon his statue of Night sleeping Michael, A Pastoral Poem Mid-noon is past;—upon the sultry mead Milton! thou should’st be living at this hour Mine ear has rung, my spirits sunk subdued Miserrimus!” and neither name nor date Missions and Travels Modern Athens, The Monastery of Old Bangor Monastic Domes! following my downward way Monastic Voluptuousness Monks, and Schoolmen Monument Commonly Called Long Meg and Her Daughters, near the â•… River Eden, The Monument of Mrs. Howard, (By Nollekins,) in Wetheral Church, near â•… Corby, on the Banks of the Eden Moods of My Own Mind More may not be by human Art exprest Morning Exercise, A Most sweet it is with unuplifted eyes Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost Motions and Means, on land and sea at war Motto intended for Poems on the naming of Places Musings Near Aquapendente Mutability My frame hath often trembled with delight My heart leaps up when I behold My Lesbia let us love and live My Lord and Lady Darlington Nay, Traveller! rest. This lonely yew-tree stands Near Anio’s stream, I spied a gentle Dove

III.413 III.434 III.524 III.427 III.577 III.564 III.398 III.369 III.397 III.378 III.359 I.636 III.737 I.461 III.359 I.646 III.409 III.613 III.379 III.487 III.373 III.408 III.391 III.386 III.510 III.506 I.667 III.739 III.588 III.509 III.393 III.507 I.726 III.524 III.407 III.357 I.669 I.16 III.610 I.312 III.538

850â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Near Rome, in Sight of St. Peter’s Near the Lake of Thrasymene Near the Same Lake Near the spring of the hermitage Never enlivened with the liveliest ray New Church Yard New Churches Next morning Troilus began to clear Night Thought, A No fiction was it of the antique age No more: the end is sudden and abrupt No mortal object did these eyes behold No record tells of lance opposed to lance No whimsy of the purse is here Nor can Imagination quit the shores Nor scorn the aid which Fancy oft doth lend Nor shall the eternal roll of praise reject Nor unregarded may I pass thee by Nor wants the cause the panic-striking aid Norman Boy, The Norman Conquest, The Not a breath of air / Ruffles the bosom of this leafy glen Not envying shades which haply yet may throw Not hurled precipitous from steep to steep Not in the lucid intervals of life Not in the mines beyond the western main Not (like his great compeers) indignantly Not Love, nor War, nor the tumultuous swell Not ’mid the World’s vain objects that enslave Not pangs of grief for lenient time too keen Not sedentary all: there are who roam Not seldom, clad in radiant vest Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard Not to the clouds, not to the cliff, he flew Not to the object specially designed Not utterly unworthy to endure Not without heavy grief of heart did He November 1, 1815 November, 1806 November, 1813â•› November, 1836 Now hollow sounding all around I hear

III.538 III.539 III.540 III.129 III.703 III.410 III.409 II.654 III.729 III.353 III.483 I.634 III.361 I.749 III.387 III.376 III.403 II.570 III.372 III.743 III.382 III.715 III.349 III.362 III.687 III.509 III.433 III.568 III.17 III.496 III.379 III.130 III.353 III.606 III.500 III.556 III.393 III.24 III.81 I.651 III.52 III.729 I.39

Complete Indexâ•… 851 Now that a Parthenon ascends, to crown Now that all hearts are glad, all faces bright Now that Astrology is out of date Now that the farewell tear is dried Now we are tired of boisterous joy Now when the Gods had crush’d the Asian State Now when the primrose makes a splendid show Nun’s Well, Brigham Nunnery Nuns fret not at their Convent’s narrow room Nutting O blithe New-comer! I have heard O dearer far than light and life are dear O flower of all that springs from gentle blood O Fools that we were, we had land which we sold O for a dirge! But why complain? O, for a kindling touch of that pure flame O for the help of Angels to complete O Friend! I know not which way I must look O gentle Sleep! do they belong to thee O Lelius, beauteous flower of gentleness O Lord, our Lord! how wonderously (quoth she) O mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot O Mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot O Nightingale! thou surely art O there is blessing in this gentle Breeze O Thou who movest onward with a mind O Thou! whose fancies from afar are brought O’er the wide earth, on mountain and on plain O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied Oak and the Broom, A Pastoral, The Oak of Guernica! Tree of holier power Oak of Guernica, The Obligations of Civil to Religious Liberty Occasioned by the Same Battle. February 1816 October, 1803 (“Six thousand Veterans practis’d in War’s game”) October, 1803 (“These times touch money’d Worldlings with dismay”) October, 1803 (“When, looking on the present face of things”) October, 1803 ODE (“There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream”) Ode (“Who rises on the banks of Seine”) Ode.—1817 Ode (from Horace)

III.487 III.52 III.683 III.442 I.676 II.727 III.740 III.491 III.507 I.628 I.435 I.674 III.583 III.29 I.727 III.586 III.80 III.430 I.645 I.631 III.28 II.635 I.633 III.355 I.668 III.144 III.28 I.614 III.22 III.31 I.403 III.30 III.30 III.404 III.79 I.650 I.648 I.649 I.647 I.712 III.98 III.113 I.60

852â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Ode to Duty Ode, composed in January 1816 Ode, Composed on May Morning Ode, Composed upon an Evening of Extraordinary Splendor and Beauty Ode, Performed in the Senate-house, Cambridge, on the Sixth of July, â•… M.DCCC.XLVII. At the first Commencement after the Installation of â•… His Royal Highness The Prince Albert, Chancellor of the University. â•… Installation Ode. Ode. The morning of the day appointed for a general thanksgiving. â•… January 18, 1816 Ode. The Pass of Kirkstone Ode, to Lycoris, May, 1817 Of mortal Parents is the Hero born Oft had I heard of Lucy Gray Oft have I caught from fitful breeze Oft have I seen, ere Time had ploughed my cheek Oft is the Medal faithful to its trust Oft, through thy fair domains, illustrious Peer! Oh! bless’d all bliss above Oh Life! without thy chequered scene Oh now that the genius of Bewick were mine Oh there is blessing in this gentle breeze Oh thou whose fixed, bewildered eye Oh what a Wreck! how changed in mien and speech! Oh! what’s the matter? what’s the matter? Old Abbeys Old Cumberland Beggar, A Description, The  Old Man Travelling On a Celebrated Event in Ancient History On a Nursery piece of the same, by a Scottish Bard— On a Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, upon the Field of Waterloo, â•… by Haydon On an Event in Col: Evans’s redoubted performances in Spain On Approaching the Staub-Bach, Lauterbrunnen On Being Stranded near the Harbour of Boulogne On Cain a Mystery dedicated to Sir Walter Scott On Entering Douglas Bay, Isle of Man On Hearing the “Ranz Des Vaches” on the Top of the Pass of St. Gothard On his morning rounds the Master On, loitering Muse!—The swift Stream chides us—on! On Man, on Nature, and on Human Life On Religion’s holy hill On Revisiting Dunolly Castle

I.617 III.93 III.595 III.124

III.775 III.82 III.120 III.116 III.23 I.407 III.510 III.568 III.45 II.298 I.740 III.466 I.418 II.11 I.57 III.732 I.322 III.408 I.442 I.367 III.34 III.571 III.746 III.729 III.435 III.456 III.571 III.494 III.439 I.690 III.354 II.300 I.52 III.499

Complete Indexâ•… 853 On Seeing a Needlecase in the Form of a Harp, the Work of E. M. S. III.607 On seeing some Tourists of the Lakes pass by reading; a practise very common. I.722 On the Banks of a Rocky Stream III.776 On the death of an unfortunate Lady. I.20 On the Death of His Late Majesty III.141 On the Departure of Sir Walter Scott from Abbotsford, for Naples III.472 On the Disinterment of the Remains of the Duke D’enghien III.101 On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic I.641 On the Final Submission of the Tyrolese III.23 On the Frith of Clyde. (In a Steam-Boat.) III.499 On the Lake of Brientz III.436 On the Power of Sound III.623 On the Same Occasion (“When in the antique age of bow and spear”) III.575 On the same Subject (“Though I beheld at first with blank surprise”) III.738 On the Sight of a Manse in the South of Scotland III.473 On tiptoe forward as I lean’d aghast I.44 On to Iona!—What can she afford  III.502 Once did She hold the gorgeous East in fee I.641 Once I could hail (howe’er serene the sky) III.600 Once in a lonely Hamlet I sojourn’d I.695 Once more I welcome Thee, and Thou, fair Plant II.274 Once more the Church is seized with sudden fear III.389 Once on the brow of yonder Hill I stopped I.558 Once on the top of Tynwald’s formal mound III.497 One might believe that natural miseries I.647 One morning (raw it was and wet I.595 One who was suffering tumult in his soul III.136 Open Prospect III.354 Open your Gates ye everlasting Piles! III.410 Orchard Pathway, The I.587 Orchard Pathway, to and fro I.587 Orlando, who great length of time had been I.740 Other Benefits III.386 Other Influences III.377 Our bodily life, some plead, that life the shrine III.558 Our Lady of the Snow III.437 Our walk was far among the antient trees I.461 Outstretching flame-ward his upbraided hand III.396 Oxford, May 30, 1820 (“Shame on this faithless heart! that could allow”) III.142 Oxford, May 30, 1820 (“Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth!”) III.142 Pansies, Lilies, Kingcups, Daisies I.597 Papal Abuses III.384 Papal Dominion III.385

854â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Parsonage in Oxfordshire, A Part fenced by man, part by a rugged steep Pastor and Patriot! at whose bidding rise Pastoral Character Patriotic Sympathies Patriots informed with Apostolic light Paulinus Pause, courteous Spirit!—Balbi supplicates Pause, Traveller! whosoe’er thou be Peasant’s Life, The Pedlar, The Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side Pellucid Spring! unknown beyond the verge People! your chains are severing link by link People! your chains are severing link by link Perhaps some needful service of the State Persecution of the Scottish Convenanters Persecution Persuasion Peter Bell, a Tale Pet-lamb, A Pastoral, The Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, at Hamilton Palace Pilgrim Fathers, The Pilgrim’s Dream, or, the Star and the Glow-worm, The Pillar of Trajan, The Pine of Monte Mario at Rome, The Pity (“Now too while o’er the heart we feel”) Pity (“What tho’ my griefs must never flow”) Pity mourn in plaintive tone Placard for a Poll bearing an Old Shirt Place of Burial in the South of Scotland, A Places of Worship Plain of Donnerdale, The Plea for Authors, A. May, 1838 Plea for the Historian Pleasures newly found are sweet Poems Composed during a Tour, Chiefly on Foot Poems, in Two Volumes Poems on the Naming of Places Poems Written During a Tour in Scotland Poet and the Caged Turtledove, The Poet to his Grandchild, A. (Sequel to the Foregoing.) Poet’s Epitaph, A

III.569 III.473 III.492 III.405 III.401 III.421 III.374 III.25 III.127 II.566 I.286 I.720 II.294 III.475 III.561 III.27 III.414 III.370 III.375 I.487 I.438 III.480 III.420 III.132 III.551 III.535 I.36 I.35 I.16 III.130 III.473 III.405 III.357 III.734 III.537 I.599 I.619 I.587 I.453 I.652 III.642 III.736 I.448

Complete Indexâ•… 855 Point at Issue, The III.413 Poor Robin III.740 Poor Susan I.414 Portentous change when History can appear III.563 Power of Music I.687 Praised be the Art whose subtle power could stay III.35 Praised be the Rivers, from their mountain-springs III.419 Preface [to The Excursion] II.298 Prefatory Sonnet (“Nuns fret not at their Convent’s narrow room”) I.628 Prelude (“In desultory walk through orchard grounds”) III.752 Prelude, The (1798–1799) I.530 Prelude, The (1805–1806) II.11 Prelude, The (1824–1839) III.144 Presentiments III.665 Presentiments! they judge not right III.665 Press’d with conflicting thoughts of love and fear II.291 Primitive Saxon Clergy III.377 Primrose of the Rock, The III.656 Prioress’s Tale, The; Translation of Chaucer’s II.635 Prithee gentle Lady list III.602 Processions, Suggested on a Sabbath Morning in the Vale of Chamouny III.451 Prologue to The Affliction of Mary —— of ——(written for the â•… Lyrical Ballads) I.718 Prompt transformation works the novel lore III.376 Protest against the Ballot. 1838 III.735 Proud were ye, Mountains, when, in times of old III.765 Pure element of waters! wheresoe’er III.134 Pursued by Hate, debarred from friendly care III.400 Queen and Negress chaste and fair! III.570 Queen of the stars!—so gentle, so benign III.718 Question and Answer III.683 Ranging the Heights of Scawfell or Black-coom III.493 Rapt above earth by power of one fair face III.547 Realms quake by turns: proud Arbitress of grace III.384 Recollection of the Portrait of King Henry Eighth, Trinity Lodge, Cambridge  III.569 Record we too, with just and faithful pen III.386 Recovery III.371 Redbreast and the Butterfly, The I.594 Redbreast, The. (Suggested in a Westmoreland Cottage.) III.712 Redoubted King, of courage leonine III.383 Reflections III.394 Regrets III.407

856â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Reluctant call it was; the rite delayed Remembering how thou didst beguile Reproof Resolution and Independence Rest and Be Thankful, at the Head of Glencroe Rest, rest, perturbed Earth! Resting-place, The Retired Marine Officer, Isle of Man, The Retirement Return (“A dark plume fetch me from yon blasted Yew”) Return, Content! for fondly I pursued Revival of Popery Reynolds come thy pencil prove Richard I Rid of a vexing and a heavy load Rise!—they have risen: of brave Aneurin ask River Duddon, a series of Sonnets, The River Eden, Cumberland, The Rob Roy’s Grave Roman Antiquities Discovered, at Bishopstone, Herefordshire Roman Antiquities. (From the Roman Station at Old Penrith.) Rotha, my Spiritual Child! this head was grey Rude is this Edifice, and Thou hast seen Ruined Cottage, The. A Poem Rural Architecture Rural Ceremony Rural Illusions Russian Fugitive, The Ruth Sacheverell Sacrament Sacred Religion, “mother of form and fear,” Sad thoughts, avaunt!—the fervour of the year Said red-ribbon’d Evans Said Secrecy to Cowardice and Fraud Sailor’s Mother, The Saints Same Subject, The (“Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance”) Same Subject, The [“The lovely Nun (submissive but more meek”] Same, The (“Holy and heavenly Spirits as they were”) Same, The (“What awful pèrspective! while from our sight”) Saxon Conquest Saxon Monasteries, and Lights and Shades of the Religion

III.561 I.481 III.378 I.624 III.478 III.92 III.359 III.496 III.593 III.356 III.360 III.413 I.14 III.383 I.722 III.372 III.349 III.505 I.652 III.611 III.483 III.581 I.415 I.270 I.448 III.406 III.663 III.643 I.421 III.415 III.417 III.356 III.359 III.733 III.562 I.595 III.392 III.353 III.392 III.398 III.411 III.372 III.379

Complete Indexâ•… 857 Say, what is Honour?—Tis the finest sense Say, ye far-travelled clouds, far-seeing hills Scattering, like Birds escaped the Fowler’s net Scene in Venice Scene Scenery Between Namur and Liege Scenes Scorn not the Sonnet; Critic, you have frowned Screams round the Arch-druid’s brow the Seamew—white Seathwaite Chapelâ•› Seclusion See the Condemned alone within his cell See what gay wild flowers deck this earth-built Cot See, where his difficult way that Old Man wins Seek who will delight in fable Sentiments of Affection for inanimate Nature September 1st, 1802 September, 1802 September 1815 September, 1819 Septimi, Gades Septimius and Acme Septimius thus his [â•…â•… ] love addressed Sequel to the Foregoing [Beggars] composed many years after Sequel to the Norman Boy Serving no haughty Muse, my hands have here Seven Daughters had Lord Archibald Seven Sisters, Or the Solitude of Binnorie, The Shame on this faithless heart! that could allow She dwelt among th’ untrodden ways She had a tall Man’s height, or more She was a Phantom of delight She wept.—Life’s purple tide began to flow Sheep-washing Shepherd of Bield Crag, The Shipwreck of the Soul Shout, for a mighty Victory is won! Show me the noblest Youth of present time Shun not this Rite, neglected, yea abhorred Sigh no more Ladies, sigh no more Simon Lee, The Old Huntsman, with an incident in which he was â•… concerned Since risen from ocean, ocean to defy

III.17 III.473 III.397 III.384 III.436 III.429 I.39 III.605 III.369 III.356 III.378 III.559 III.478 III.550 III.765 I.37 I.643 I.644 III.81 III.138 I.57 I.51 I.51 III.111 III.744 III.732 I.612 I.612 III.142 I.401 I.619 I.593 I.21 III.359 II.568 I.47 I.651 III.617 III.425 III.747 I.327 III.498

858â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Six months to six years added, He remain’d III.52 Six thousand Veterans practis’d in War’s game I.650 Sky-Prospect—From the Plain of France III.456 Small Celandine, The (“There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine”) I.671 Small service is true service while it lasts III.704 Smile of the Moon—for so I name III.109 So fair, so sweet, withal so sensitive III.764 Soft as a cloud is yon blue Ridge—the Mere III.689 Sole listener, Duddon! to the breeze that play’d III.351 Solitary Reaper, The I.656 Some minds have room alone for pageant stories I.726 Somnambulist, The III.513 Son of my buried Son, while thus thy hand III.736 Song (“She dwelt among th’ untrodden ways”) I.401 Song, at the Feast of Brougham Castle I.703 Song for the Spinning Wheel Founded upon a Belief Prevalent among the â•… Pastoral Vales of Westmorland III.46 Song for the Wandering Jew I.420 Sonnet (“The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s hand”) III.115 Sonnet. (Composed at —— Castle.) I.664 Sonnet. A Prophecy. Feb. 1807 I.694 Sonnet. September 25th, 1803 I.743 Sonnet on Milton III.12 Sonnet, on seeing a tuft of snowdrops in a storm III.136 Sonnet, on seeing Miss Helen Maria Williams weep at a Tale of Distress I.21 Sonnet, on the detraction which followed the publication of a certain â•… poem III.138 Sonnet on the Projected Kendal and Windermere Railway III.764 Sonnet, on the same occasion. February 1816 III.98 Sonnet, To Thomas Clarkson, On the final passing of the Bill for the â•… Abolition of the Slave Trade, March, 1807 I.694 Sonnet written by Mr ——— immediately after the death of his Wife I.21 Sonnets Composed or Suggested during a tour in Scotland, in the Summer of 1833. III.488 Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty and Order III.561 Sonnets Dedicated to Liberty I.639 Sonnets, suggested by Mr. W. Westall’s views of the caves, &c. in â•… Yorkshire III.134 Sonnets upon the Punishment of Death. In Series III.555 Soon did the Almighty Giver of all rest III.754 Source of the Danube, The III.433 Spade! with which Wilkinson hath till’d his Lands I.702 Spanish Guerillas. 1811 III.33

Complete Indexâ•… 859 Sparrow’s Nest, The Sponsors St. Catherine of Ledbury St. Paul’s Stanzas, Composed in the Semplon Pass Stanzas on the Power of Sound Stanzas Suggested in a Steam-Boat off St. Bees’ Heads, on the Coast of â•… Cumberland Stanzas written in my Pocket copy of the Castle of Indolence Star Gazers Stay, bold Adventurer; rest awhile thy limbs Stay, little cheerful Robin! stay Stay near me—do not take thy flight! Steamboats, Viaducts, and Railways Stepping Westward Stepping-stones, The Stern Daughter of the Voice of God! Strange fits of passion I have known Strange visitation! at Jemima’s lip Stranger, ’tis a sight of pleasure Stranger, this hillock of mishapen stones Stretched on the dying Mother’s lap, lies dead Struggle of the Britons against the Barbarians Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright Such contrast, in whatever track we move Such fruitless questions may not long beguile Suggested by a beautiful ruin upon one of the islands of Loch Lomond, â•… a place chosen for the retreat of a solitary individual, from whom this â•… habitation acquired the name of The Brownie’s Cell Suggested by a Picture of the Bird of Paradise Suggested by a View from an Eminence in Inglewood Forest Suggested by the View of Lancaster Castle (On the Road from the South) Supposed Address to the Same, 1810 Surprized by joy—impatient as the Wind Sweet Flower! belike one day to have Sweet Highland Girl, a very shower Sweet is the holiness of Youth”—so felt Sweet was the Walk along the narrow Lane Swiftly turn the murmuring wheel! Sylph was it? or a Bird more bright Tables Turned, The Take, cradled Nursling of the mountain, take Tale of Peter Bell

I.673 III.418 III.611 II.291 III.450 III.623 III.518 I.732 I.686 III.42 III.755 I.667 III.507 I.657 III.352 I.617 I.400 III.592 III.126 I.428 III.506 III.372 III.591 III.400 III.355 III.55 III.750 III.481 III.555 III.30 III.49 I.750 I.662 III.395 I.48 III.46 III.663 I.366 III.350 I.492

860â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Tax not the royal Saint with vain expense Tell me, ye Zephyrs! that unfold Temptations from Roman Refinements Tenderly do we feel by Nature’s law Thanks for the lessons of this Spot—fit school Thanksgiving after Childbirth That gloomy cave, that gothic nich That happy gleam of vernal eyes That heresies should strike (if truth be scanned That is work which I am rueing— That vast eugh-tree, pride of Lorton Vale That way look, my Infant, lo! The Ball whizzed by—it grazed his ear The Baptist might have been ordain’d to cry The Bard, whose soul is meek as dawning day The barren wife all sad in mind The captive Bird was gone;—to cliff or moor The cattle crowding round this beverage clear The cock is crowing The confidence of Youth our only Art The Crescent-moon, the Star of Love The Danish Conqueror, on his royal chair The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink The embowering Rose, the Acacia, and the Pine The encircling ground, in native turf array’d The fairest, brightest hues of ether fade The feudal Keep, the bastions of Cohorn The floods are roused, and will not soon be weary The forest huge of ancient Caledon The formal World relaxes her cold chain The gallant Youth, who may have gained The gentlest Poet, with free thoughts endowed The gentlest Shade that walked Elysian Plains The glory of evening was spread through the west The God of Love—ah benedicite! The hour-bell sounds and I must go The Imperial Consort of the Fairy King The imperial Stature, the colossal stride The Kirk of Ulpha to the Pilgrim’s eye The Knight had ridden down from Wensley Moor The Lady whom you here behold The Land we from our Fathers had in trust The leaves that rustled on this oak-crowned hill

III.411 III.578 III.371 III.555 III.501 III.424 III.643 III.616 III.372 I.698 I.747 I.609 III.729 III.547 III.79 I.72 III.499 III.491 I.669 III.431 III.747 III.100 I.438 III.43 III.410 III.47 III.494 III.507 III.481 III.560 III.469 III.750 III.36 I.370 II.643 I.70 III.366 III.569 III.362 I.377 III.601 III.20 III.690

Complete Indexâ•… 861 The Linnet’s warble, sinking towards a close The little hedge-row birds The lovely Nun (submissive but more meek The Lovers took within this ancient grove The martial courage of a day is vain— The massy Ways, carried across these Heights The May is come again:—how sweet The Minstrels played their Christmas tune The moaning owl shall soon The most alluring clouds that mount the sky The old inventive Poets, had they seen The oppression of the tumult—wrath and scorn— The peace which Others seek they find The Pibroch’s note, discountenanced or mute The ploughboy by his gingling wane The Post-boy drove with fierce career The power of Armies is a visible thing The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed The rains at length have ceas’d, the winds are still’d The Roman Consul doomed his sons to die The Sabbath bells renew the inviting peal The Scottish Broom on Bird-nest brae The Sheep-boy whistled loud, and lo! The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said The soaring Lark is blest as proud The Spirit of Antiquity, enshrined The Star that comes at close of day to shine The Stars are Mansions built by Nature’s hand The struggling Rill insensibly is grown The Sun has long been set The sun is couched, the sea-fowl gone to rest The sun is dead—ye heard the curfew toll The Sun, that seemed so mildly to retire The Swallow, that hath lost The sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields The taper turn’ d from blue to red The tears of man in various measure gush The torrent’s yelling Spectre, seen The Turban’d Race are poured in thickening swarms The unremitting voice of nightly streams The valley rings with mirth and joy The Vested Priest before the Altar stands The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen

III.688 I.367 III.392 III.505 III.33 III.592 I.682 III.363 I.42 III.758 III.357 III.373 I.726 III.474 I.39 I.622 III.34 I.634 I.759 III.556 III.424 III.131 I.755 III.11 III.667 III.428 III.740 III.115 III.352 I.668, III.692 III.691 I.21 III.691 I.739 III.138 I.39 III.395 I.41 III.383 III.616 I.409 III.423

862â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth The Virgin Mountain, wearing like a Queen The Voice of Song from distant lands shall call The western clouds a deepening gloom display The wind is now thy organist;—a clank The woman-hearted Confessor prepares The world forsaken, all its busy cares The world is too much with us; late and soon The Young-ones gathered in from hill and dale Then did dire forms and ghastly faces float There are no colours in the fairest sky There is a bondage which is worse to bear There is a change—and I am poor There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine There is a law severe of penury There is a pleasure in poetic pains There is a thorn; it looks so old There is a trickling water, neither rill There is an Eminence,—of these our hills There never breathed a man who when his life There!” said a Stripling, pointing with meet pride There was a Boy, ye knew him well, ye Cliffs There was a roaring in the wind all night There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream There’s an old man in London, the prime of old men There’s George Fisher, Charles Fleming, and Reginald Shore There’s not a nook within this solemn Pass There’s something in a flying horse These chairs they have no words to utter These times touch money’d Worldlings with dismay These Tourists, Heaven preserve us! needs must live These Vales were saddened with no common gloom These who gave earliest notice, as the Lark These words were utter’d in a pensive mood They called Thee merry England, in old time They dreamt not of a perishable home They seek, are sought; to daily battle led They—who have seen the noble Roman’s scorn This Book, which strives to express in tuneful sound This Height a ministering Angel might select This is the spot:—how mildly does the Sun This Land of Rainbows, spanning glens whose walls This Lawn, &c. This Lawn, a carpet all alive

III.399 I.642 I.54 III.473 III.382 III.544 I.637 III.416 I.47 III.403 I.648 I.699 I.671 I.485 III.606 I.335 I.720 I.458 III.25 III.504 I.383 I.624 I.712 I.476 I.448 III.474 I.487 I.731 I.648 I.384 III.573 III.388 I.630 III.489 III.411 III.33 III.537 I.718 III.42 I.485 III.475 III.664 III.664

Complete Indexâ•… 863 Tho’ searching damps and many an envious flaw Thorn, The Those breathing Tokens of your kind regard Those old credulities, to nature dear Those silver clouds collected round the sun Thou look’st upon me, and dost fondly think Thou sacred Pile! whose turrets rise Thou who with youthful vigour rich, and light Though I beheld at first with blank surprise Though joy attend thee orient at the birth Though many suns have risen and set Though narrow be that Old Man’s cares, and near Though Pulpits and the Desk may fail Though the bold wings of Poesy affect Though the torrents from their fountains Though to give timely warning and deter Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation of Switzerland Thought on the Seasons Thoughts Suggested the Day Following on the Banks of Nith, near the â•… Poet’s Residence Threats come which no submission may assuage Three Cottage Girls, The Three Graves, The Three years she grew in sun and shower Throned in the Sun’s descending car Through Cumbrian wilds, in many a mountain cove Through shattered galleries, ’mid roofless halls Thus far I write to please my Friend Thus is the storm abated by the craft Thy functions are etherial Tinker, The Tis eight o’clock,—a clear March night Tis gone—with old belief and dream Tis He whose yester-evening’s high disdain Tis said that to the brow of yon fair hill Tis said, fantastic Ocean doth enfold Tis said, that some have died for love To ——— (“From the dark chambers of dejection freed”) To ——— (“Happy the feeling from the bosom thrown”) To ——— (“If these brief Records, by the Muses’ art”) To ——— (“Let other Bards of Angels sing”) To ——— (“Look at the fate of summer Flowers”) To ——— (“O dearer far than light and life are dear”)

III.445 I.335 III.669 III.536 III.137 III.491 III.439 I.56 III.738 III.479 III.597 I.693 III.748 III.750 I.420 III.558 I.645 III.683 III.727 III.391 III.447 I.74 I.436 III.693 III.70 III.582 III.571 III.389 III.623 I.718 I.349 III.748 III.734 III.615 III.427 I.412 III.64 III.602 III.603 III.580 III.581 III.583

864â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To ——— (“Such age how beautiful! O Lady bright”) To ——— (“Those silver clouds collected round the sun”) To ——— (“Wait, prithee, wait!” this answer Lesbia threw) To ———, on her first ascent to the summit of Helvellyn To ———, upon the birth of her first-born child, march, 1833 To ———. With a selection from the poems of Anne, Countess of â•… Winchelsea; and extracts of similar character from other writers; â•… the whole transcribed by a female friend To a Butterfly (“I’ve watch’d you now a full half hour”) To a Butterfly (“Stay near me—do not take thy flight!”) To a Friend, Composed near Calais, on the Road leading to Ardres, â•… August 7th, 1802 To a Friend (On the Banks of the Derwent) To a good Man of most dear memory To a Highland Girl. (At Inversneyde, upon Loch Lomond.) To a Lady, in Answer to a Request that I would write her a Poem upon â•… Some Drawings that she had made of Flowers in the Island of Madeira To a Painter To a Redbreast—(In Sickness) To a Sexton To a Sky-lark (“Ethereal Minstrel! Pilgrim of the sky!”) To a Sky-lark (“Up with me! up with me into the clouds!”) To a Snow-drop, appearing very early in the Season To a Young Lady, Who had been reproached for taking long Walks in the â•… Country To an Octogenarian To appease the Gods; or public thanks to yield To B. R. Haydon, Esq. On Seeing his Picture of Napoleon Buonaparte on â•… the Island of St. Helena To barren heath, and quaking fen To Cordelia M——, Hallsteads, Ullswater To Enterprize To H. C., Six Years Old To Henry Crabb Robinson To Joanna To kneeling Worshippers no earthly floor To Lucca Giordano To M. H. (“Our walk was far among the antient trees”) To mark the white smoke rising slow To May To Melpomene To public notice, with reluctance strong To R. B. Haydon, Esq.

III.591 III.137 III.612 III.106 III.694 III.141 I.675 I.667 I.640 III.492 III.719 I.662 III.758 III.738 III.755 I.416 III.590 I.620 III.135 I.684 III.771 III.451 III.679 III.55 III.509 III.457 I.615 III.524 I.455 III.425 III.774 I.461 I.37 III.597 I.41 III.71 III.80

Complete Indexâ•… 865 To Rotha Q ——— III.581 To S. H. III.602 To Sleep (“A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by”) I.631 To Sleep (“Fond words have oft been spoken to thee, Sleep!”) I.632 To Sleep (“O gentle Sleep! do they belong to thee”) I.631 To the——— (“Lady! the songs of Spring were in the grove”) I.636 To the Author’s Portrait III.682 To the Clouds II.292 To the Cuckoo (“Not the whole warbling grove in concert heard”) III.606 To the Cuckoo (“O blithe New-comer! I have heard”) I.674 To the Daisy (“In youth from rock to rock I went”) I.588 To the Daisy (“Sweet Flower! belike one day to have”) I.750 To the Daisy (“With little here to do or see”) I.688 To the Earl of Lonsdale III.508 To the grove, the meadow, the well I.739 To the Lady ———, On Seeing the Foundation Preparing for the Erection â•… of ——— Chapel, Westmoreland III.573 To the Lady E. B. and the Hon. Miss P. III.582 To the Memory of Raisley Calvert I.638 To the Men of Kent. October, 1803 I.650 To the Moon. (Composed by the Sea-Side,—on the Coast of Cumberland.)III.716 To the Moon. (Rydal.) III.718 To the Pennsylvanians III.565 To the Planet Venus, an Evening Star. Composed at Loch Lomond III.479 To the Planet Venus, upon its Approximation (as an Evening Star) to the â•… Earth, January 1838 III.731 To the Poet, Dyer III.41 To the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D., Master of Harrow School, â•… after the Perusal of his Theophilus Anglicanus, recently published III.763 To the Rev. Dr. W——  III.363 To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Lonsdale, K. G. &c. &c. II.298 To the River Derwent III.490 To the River Duddon (“O mountain Stream! the Shepherd and his Cot”) I.633 To the River Greta, near Keswick III.489 To the Same (“Enough of climbing toil!—Ambition treads”) III.123 To the Same (“Here let us rest—here, where the gentle beams”) III.122 To the Same Flower (“Bright Flower, whose home is every where!”) I.690 To the Same Flower (“Pleasures newly found are sweet”) I.599 To the Small Celandine (“Pansies, Lilies, Kingcups, Daisies”) I.597 To the Spade of a Friend I.702 To the Torrent at the Devil’s Bridge, North Wales III.583 To the Utilitarians III.701 To the Yoke he bends, / Receives the chain from Nature’s conquering hand II.568

866â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth To Toussaint L’Ouverture Too frail to keep the lofty vow Torquato Tasso rests within this Tomb Torrent Toussaint, the most unhappy Man of Men! Town of Schwytz, The Tracks let me follow far from human-kind Tradition of Darley Dale, Derbyshire, A Tradition Tradition, be thou mute! Oblivion, throw Tranquillity! the sovereign aim wert thou Translation (“When Love was born of race divine”) Translation from Ariosto, Orlando Furioso Translation from Michelangelo. Fragment Translation of the Bible Translation of the Sestet of a Sonnet by Tasso Translations from Metastasio Translations of Chaucer and Virgil Transubstantiation Travelling Trepidation of the Druids Triad, The Tributary Stream Tribute to the Memory of the Same Dog Troilus and Cresida, Translation of Chaucer’s Trosachs, The Troubled long with warring notions Troubles of Charles the First True is it that Ambrosio Salinero Tuft of Primroses, The Twas summer—and the sun was mounted high Two April Mornings, The Two Thieves, Or the last Stage of Avarice, The Two Voices are there; one is of the Sea Tynwald Hill Uncertainty Under the shadow of a stately Pile Ungrateful Country, if thou e’er forget Unless to Peter’s Chair the viewless wind Unquiet Childhood here by special grace Untouched through all severity of cold Up, Timothy, up with your Staff and away! Up to the throne of God is borne

I.643 III.727 III.29 I.41 I.643 III.438 III.435 III.615 III.358 III.476 III.506 I.53 I.740 I.749 III.394 III.569 I.738 II.635 III.388 I.485 III.369 III.617 III.357 I.692 II.654 III.474 III.129 III.400 III.23 II.274 I.286, 270; II.308 I.430 I.418 I.645 III.497 III.370 III.546 III.404 III.385 III.585 III.612 I.441 III.702

Complete Indexâ•… 867 Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks I.366 Up with me! up with me into the clouds! I.620 Upon a Portrait III.740 Upon Perusing the Foregoing Epistle Thirty Years after its Composition III.754 Upon Seeing a Coloured Drawing of the Bird of Paradise in an Album III.714 Upon the Late General Fast. March, 1832 III.561 Upon the Same Event III.35 Upon the Same Occasion III.139 Upon the Sight of a Beautiful Picture III.35 Upon the sight of the Portrait of a female Friend.— III.739 Upon those lips, those placid lips, I look III.739 Urged by Ambition, who with subtlest skill III.381 Vale of Esthwaite, The I.23 Valedictory Sonnet III.732 Vallombrosa! I longed in thy shadiest wood III.450 Vallombrosa—I longed in thy shadiest wood III.545 Vanguard of Liberty, ye Men of Kent I.650 Various Extracts from The vale of Esthwaite A Poem. Written at â•… Hawkshead in the Spring and Summer 1787 I.35 Vaudois, The III.419 [Vernal Ode] III..113 n View from the Top of Black Comb III.42 Virgil’s Aeneid, Translation of II.667 Virgin, The III.393 Visitation of the Sick III.424 Wait, prithee, wait!” this answer Lesbia threw III.612 Waldenses III.388 Walton’s Book of “Lives” III.403 Wanderer! that stoop’st so low, and com’st so near III.716 Wansfell! this Household has a favoured lot III.759 Ward of the Law!—dread Shadow of a King! III.141 Warning, a Sequel to the Foregoing, The. March, 1833 III.697 Wars of York and Lancaster III.389 Was it for this / That one, the fairest of all rivers, loved I.530 Was it to disenchant, and to undo III.430 Was the aim frustrated by force or guile III.134 Watch, and be firm! for soul-subduing vice III.371 Waterfall and the Eglantine, The I.402 We Are Seven I.332 We can endure that He should waste our lands III.32 We gaze, not sad to think that we must die III.740 We had a fellow-Passenger who came I.643 We have not passed into a doleful City III.504

868â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth We saw, but surely, in the motley crowd We talk’d with open heart, and tongue We walk’d along, while bright and red Weak is the will of Man, his judgement blind Weep not, beloved Friends! nor let the air Well have yon Railway Labourers to this ground Well sang the bard who called the Grave, in strains Well worthy to be magnified are they Were there, below, a spot of holy ground Westmoreland Girl, The What! Adam’s eldest Son in this sweet strain! What aim had they, the Pair of Monks, in size What aspect bore the Man who roved or fled What awful pèrspective! while from our sight What Beast in wilderness or cultured field What Beast of Chase hath broken from the cover? What boots it, * *, that thy princely blood What crowd is this? what have we here! we must not pass it by What from the social chain can tear What! He—who, mid the kindred throng What heavenly smiles! O Lady mine” What is good for a bootless bene? What know we of the Blest above What lovelier home could gentle Fancy chuse? What mischief cleaves to unsubdued regret What need of clamorous bells, or ribbands gay What strong allurement draws, what spirit guides What though the Accused, upon his own appeal What though the Italian pencil wrought not here What waste in the labour of Chariot and Steed! What you are stepping westward?” — “Yea.” When Alpine Vales threw forth a suppliant cry When, far and wide, swift as the beams of morn When first, descending from the moorlands When first I journey’d hither, to a home When haughty expectations prostrate lie When here with Carthage Rome to conflict came When human touch, as monkish books attest When I have borne in memory what has tamed When in the antique age of bow and spear When, looking on the present face of things When Love was born of race divine When Philoctetes in the Lemnian Isle

III.500 I.432 I.430 II.572; III.53 III.27 III.769 III.477 III.420 I.97 III.765 III.571 III.544 III.352 III.411 III.389 III.451 I.60 I.686 I.40 III.58 III.759 II.633 III.436 III.429 III.693 III.48 III.731 III.673 III.465 I.722 I.657 III.414 III.35 III.723 I.723 III.136 III.539 III.611 I.647 III.576 I.649 I.53 III.593

Complete Indexâ•… 869 When Phoebus took delight on earth to dwell When Ruth was left half desolate When Severn’s sweeping Flood had overthrown When slow from pensive twilight’s latest gleams When the Brothers reach’d the gateway When the soft hand of sleep had closed the latch Whence that low voice?—A whisper from the heart Where are they now, those wanton Boys? Where art thou, my beloved Son Where be the noisy followers of the game Where be the Temples which in Britain’s Isle Where holy ground begins—unhallowed ends Where lies the Land to which yon Ship must go Where lies the truth? has Man, in wisdom’s creed Where long and deeply hath been fixed the root Where Towers are crushed, and unforbidden weeds Where were ye nymphs when the remorseless deep Where will they stop, those breathing Powers While beams of orient light shoot wide and high While flowing Rivers yield a blameless sport While from the purpling east departs While Merlin paced the Cornish sands While not a leaf seems faded,—while the fields While poring Antiquarians search the ground While the Poor gather round, till the end of time While they, her Playmates once, light-hearted tread White Doe of Rylstone, The; Or the Fate of the Nortons Who but is pleased to watch the moon on high Who comes with rapture greeted, and caress’d Who fancied what a pretty sight Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he Who leads a happy life Who ponders National events shall find Who rashly strove thy Image to portray? Who rises on the banks of Seine Who swerves from innocence, who makes divorce Who weeps for Strangers?—Many wept Why art thou silent! Is thy love a plant Why cast ye back upon the Gallic shore Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings— Why should the Enthusiast, journeying through this Isle Why should we weep or mourn, Angelic boy Why sleeps the future, as a snake enrolled

II.660 I.421 III.754 I.48 I.603 III.93 III.358 III.111 I.606 III.457 III.71 III.569 I.629 III.773 III.423 III.551 I.22 III.680 III.759 III.366 III.595 III.630 III.81 III.611 III.482 III.590 II.571 III.773 III.402 I.671 I.600 I.718 III.563 III.714 III.98 III.361 III.13 III.676 III.456 III.588 III.489 III.770 III.412

870â•… The Poems of William Wordsworth Why stand we gazing on the sparkling Brine III.495 Why, William, on that old grey stone I.365 Wicliffe III.389 Widow on Windermere Side, The III.730 Wild Duck’s Nest, The III.366 William the Third III.404 Wishing-gate, The III.613 Wishing-gate Destroyed, The III.748 With a Small Present III.737 With copious eulogy in prose or rhyme III.677 With each recurrence of this glorious morn III.53 With earnest look, to every voyager III.503 With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb’st the sky I.621 With little here to do or see I.688 With sacrifice, before the rising morn III.66 With Ships the sea was sprinkled far and nigh I.632 With smiles each happy face was overspread III.406 Within her gilded cage confined III.584 Within the mind strong fancies work III.120 Woe to the Crown that doth the Cowl obey! III.381 Woe to you, Prelates! rioting in ease III.390 Woman! the Power who left his throne on high III.424 Would that our scrupulous Sires had dared to leave III.407 Wouldst Thou be gathered to Christ’s chosen flock III.731 Wouldst thou be taught, when sleep has taken flight III.741 Wren’s Nest, A III.684 Written at the Request of Sir George Beaumont, Bart. and in his Name, â•… for an Urn, placed by him at the Termination of a newly-planted Avenue, â•… in the same Grounds III.44 Written in a Blank Leaf of Macpherson’s Ossian III.510 Written in an Album III.704 Written in Germany, On one of the coldest days of the Century I.440 Written in London, September, 1802 I.645 Written in March, While resting on the Bridge at the Foot of Brother’s â•… Water I.669 Written in Mrs. Field’s AlbumOpposite a Pen-and-ink Sketch in the â•… Manner of a Rembrandt Etching done by Edmund Field III.643 Written in very early Youth (“Calm is all nature as a resting wheel”) I.635 Written, November 13,1814, on a blank leaf in a Copy of the Author’s Poem â•… The Excursion, upon hearing of the death of the late Vicar of Kendal III.71 Written upon a Blank Leaf in “The Complete Angler” III.366 Written upon a fly leaf in the Copy of the Author’s Poems which was sent â•… to her Majesty Queen Victoria III.772

Complete Indexâ•… 871 Written with a Slate-pencil, on a Stone, on the Side of the Mountain of â•… Black Comb Yarrow Revisited Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems . . . 1831 Yarrow Unvisited Yarrow Visited, September, 1814 Ye Apennines! with all your fertile vales Ye brood of conscience—Spectres! that frequent Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn Ye now are panting up life’s hill! Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth! Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims Ye Storms, resound the praises of your King! Ye, too, must fly before a chasing hand Ye trees! whose slender roots entwine Ye vales and hills whose beauty hither drew Ye who with buoyant spirits blessed Yes! full surely ’twas the Echo Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye! Yes! thou art fair, yet be not moved Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound Yet are they here?—the same unbroken knot Yet more,—round many a Convent’s blazing fire Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade Yet Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind Yet, yet, Biscayans, we must meet our Foes [Yew Trees] Yon hamlet far across the vale You call it, “Love lies bleeding,”—so you may You have heard “a Spanish Lady Young England—what is then become of Old 1810 (“Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen”) 1810 (“O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied”) 1811 (“They seek, are sought; to daily battle led”)

III.42 III.469 III.469 I.665 III.62 III.524 III.557 III.44 I.664 III.142 III.501 III.98 III.392 III.548 III.763 I.55 I.701 III.406 I.633 I.693 III.768 III.560 I.672 III.391 III.392 III.402 III.31 I.748 I.41 III.703 III.658 III.567 III.18 III.31 III.34

Complete Indexâ•… 871 Yarrow Unvisited Yarrow Visited, September, 1814 Ye Apennines! with all your fertile vales Ye brood of conscience—Spectres! that frequent Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn Ye now are panting up life’s hill! Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth! Ye shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims Ye Storms, resound the praises of your King! Ye, too, must fly before a chasing hand Ye trees! whose slender roots entwine Ye vales and hills whose beauty hither drew Ye who with buoyant spirits blessed Yes! full surely ’twas the Echo Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear Yes! hope may with my strong desire keep pace Yes, there is holy pleasure in thine eye! Yes! thou art fair, yet be not moved Yes, though He well may tremble at the sound Yet are they here?—the same unbroken knot Yet more,—round many a Convent’s blazing fire Yet some, Noviciates of the cloistral shade Yet Truth is keenly sought for, and the wind Yet, yet, Biscayans, we must meet our Foes [Yew Trees] Yon hamlet far across the vale You call it, “Love lies bleeding,”—so you may You have heard “a Spanish Lady Young England—what is then become of Old 1810 (“Ah! where is Palafox? Nor tongue nor pen”) 1810 (“O’erweening Statesmen have full long relied”) 1811 (“They seek, are sought; to daily battle led”)

I.665 III.62 III.524 III.557 III.44 I.664 III.142 III.501 III.98 III.392 III.548 III.763 I.55 I.701 III.406 I.633 I.693 III.768 III.560 I.672 III.391 III.392 III.402 III.31 I.748 I.41 III.703 III.658 III.567 III.18 III.31 III.34

Wordsworth from Humanities-Ebooks The Fenwick Notes of William Wordsworth, edited by Jared Curtis† The Cornell Wordsworth: a Supplement, edited by Jared Curtis †† The Prose Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 1, edited by W. J. B. Owen and Jane Worthington Smyser (Volumes 2 and 3 in preparation.) † Wordsworth’s Convention of Cintra, a Bicentennial Critical Edition, edited by W. J. B Owen, with a critical symposium by Simon Bainbridge, David Bromwich, Timothy Michael and Patrick Vincent † Wordsworth’s Political Writings, edited by W. J. B. Owen and Jane Worthington Smyser. Reading texts of A Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff, The Convention of Cintra, Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmorland, and the 1835 Postscript. †

Other Literary Titles John Beer, Coleridge the Visionary John Beer, Blake’s Humanism Richard Gravil, ed., Master Narratives: Tellers and Telling in the English Novel. Essays for Bill Ruddick Richard Gravil and Molly Lefebure, eds, The Coleridge Connection: Essays for Thomas McFarland John K. Hale, Milton as Multilingual Simon Hull, ed., The British Periodical Text, 1796–1832 W. J. B. Owen, Understanding The Prelude Pamela Perkins, ed., Francis Jeffrey: Unpublished Tours Keith Sagar, D. H. Lawrence: Poet † † Also available in paperback, †† hardback

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